Dignity & Discrimination
by estrellabella
Summary: Francesca Darcy and Eddie Bennett are two individuals that society would never put together, but fate doesn't always follow the rules. Another modern P&P retelling, but with a slight twist. COMPLETE
1. Why Can't I

_Get a load of me, get a load of you_

_walking down the street and I hardly know you_

_It's just like we were meant to be_

_-Liz Phair, "Why Can't I"_

**CHAPTER ONE**

Everyone knows that a single woman, attractive and under the age of 40, has to be looking for a man. Much to the chagrin of feminists and forward-thinkers around the world, it's still difficult for the majority of modern society to accept the fact that maybe some women don't need, or want, a man in their lives. But instead of just accepting these women who choose to live their lives for themselves, we wonder what's wrong with them, what horrible quality they have that makes them unable to keep a man.

Though this societal norm of the need for a significant other is fairly evident to everyone, I do feel like a bit of a hypocrite criticizing it. I'm a happily married woman myself. I love my husband, and as much as it embarrasses me, there are things that I'm perfectly happy to let him handle in the marriage – like taxes. And mowing the lawn.

But then again, this story isn't about me.

This story is about the two people who no one would've put together. A woman who didn't have time or the desire to put effort into a relationship, and a man who did.

The woman is my best friend, Francesca Marie Darcy, known to her family and friends as Frankie. I've known her since we were in diapers. Our mothers lived just a few houses apart, and took the same Lamaze class, starting a fast friendship that would extend to their daughters. Frankie has never needed a guy to make her feel complete as a woman. Even in high school, she'd had a boyfriend or two, but it was clear to everyone who knew her that she was more independent in high school than most women are at 30. We both went to college at Northwestern, and after graduation both of us settled in downtown Chicago. Frankie immediately started her climb to the top, getting a job in marketing and working her way up the executive ladder faster than anyone ever had before in that firm. But as I've already said… though her career was more successful than she could've imagined, her social life wasn't quite as idyllic. She hadn't dated since college, and her social circle consisted mostly of me and a handful of other friends. Rather than going out to a bar on the weekend, she would stay in, reading whatever book she was wrapped up in at the time, working overtime for a particularly important client, or occasionally twisting my arm to get me to come to a ballet, opera, or orchestra concert. If there was one word to describe Frankie, besides "independent," it was "class."

The man is someone who probably never would've entered Frankie's life if it hadn't been for me – more specifically, me and my then-boyfriend, Charlie Bennett. The man that would turn Frankie's world upside down is Eddie Bennett, Charlie's younger brother. Frankie once told me that she had never been able to picture herself getting married, but even if she could, I'm guessing she wouldn't picture herself married to someone like Eddie. He worked for his father's construction company, with no more than a high school education, and lived in a run-down one-room apartment on the bad side of Chicago. He was total goofball. His first instinct was to joke around in an uncomfortable situation. Frankie eventually told me that there was a subtle masculinity about him that you could only see if you really drew it out of him, though I didn't think it was all that subtle – he worked in manual labor, for god's sake, all you would have to do is watch him hauling concrete around for a day, I'm sure his masculinity would be plenty obvious. He wasn't cultured, he listened to classic rock, and the only literature he read was the occasional Car and Driver magazine. The one word to describe Eddie? "Eddie." There was no other way to describe him.

Frankie and Eddie were two people who society would never put together… but fate had other plans.

It all started with a very important event in my own life… when my boyfriend proposed.

* * *

"You're WHAT?" Frankie exclaimed incredulously. Her best friend in the world grinned idiotically, holding up her left hand, which now held a modest diamond on the all-important finger. "But… I mean… when…" 

"Just last night, can you believe it? I was totally caught off guard, but of course I said yes right away, I mean, I love him so much…" Jane babbled, looking down at her ring herself. She was so ecstatic she just couldn't contain herself. Frankie, on the other hand, was so shocked that all she could do was gape at her.

"Wow, Jane… I mean… wow…" She grabbed her hand to look at the ring more closely. "How did he do it?" Jane's gaze dreamily drifted to somewhere over Frankie's left shoulder.

"We went out for dinner at the same restaurant where we had our first date, and he had the ring nestled in with our dessert." Frankie smiled slightly at seeing her best friend's total elation… but even that couldn't ease all of her concerns.

"Janie… you know I'm happy for you, honey, and I know that you love Charlie… but are you sure this is a good idea?" Jane directed her gaze back towards Frankie, her smile diminishing.

"Of course I think it's a good idea. Why would I say yes if I didn't think it was a good idea?"

"I just mean… well, you guys have only been dating for what, a month and a half?"

"Two months, actually," Jane corrected her, folding her arms over her chest.

"Fine, two months… still, Janie, that's not very long. Your family hasn't even met him yet. I haven't even met him yet, and I'm your best friend who lives 2 minutes away who you see constantly!"

"I know all this, Frankie."

"Well, then… do you see where I'm coming from?" Jane looked Frankie straight in the eye. Not many people had the guts to look Francesca Darcy in the eye and contradict her. She was a powerful, independent woman, which is intimidating to a lot of people. But when Jane looked at her, she just saw the little girl who used to refuse to let her mother brush her hair, and she wasn't afraid to look her best friend Frankie in the eye.

"I can see how you would think that, yes, because you're not me. This may sound like the cheesiest thing in the world, but no one sees him like I see him, because no one sees him when it's just the two of us alone together, and no one feels what I feel about him… and I know it sounds ridiculous, but I just know that this is the real thing, y'know?" Frankie bit her lip.

"Okay, okay… I believe you," she said, smiling slowly. "Wow… I can't believe you're getting married." Frankie reached over to squeeze her hand, and Jane's smile reappeared.

"I know… it is pretty unbelievable." Frankie hugged her.

"You do have a point about not knowing Charlie though," Jane said after they had separated. "He and I actually talked about it after he proposed last night, and we decided to have a couple of gatherings so that all of our friends and family can get to know each other."

"I think that sounds like a great idea. I do still have approval rights, right?" Jane laughed.

"Of course."

"So when are you going to have this gathering?"

"Well I think the first thing we're going to do is just throw a simple party and invite all of our friends… we were thinking it might be fun to throw a party for that big Bears game in 2 weeks." Frankie wrinkled her nose and Jane laughed. "I figured you'd have that reaction, but hey, you can just come for the food and the company, right?" Frankie laughed.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

* * *

"So guess what," Charlie said. Eddie took a swig out of his beer, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 

"What?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the TV with SportsCenter playing.

"Proposed to Jane last night."

"No shit. What'd she say?"

"Yes. We're engaged."

"Congrats, bro."

"Thanks. We're having a party in a couple weeks for the Bears game so we can introduce all our friends."

"Sweet. I'll be there."

"Good. Ooh, nice play."

"I know, Fullerton's gotta be up for MVP this year."

* * *

Frankie frowned at the wooden door with the small gold number 9 hanging slightly crooked above the peephole. She had already knocked twice with no response, and now she was wondering if she should just push the door open and invite herself in. She could hear people talking and movement inside… she was reaching for the doorknob when the door in question swung open. 

"Hey, you're early," Jane greeted her. Frankie smiled sheepishly.

"Well yeah, don't you know me at all?" Jane giggled and stood back so that Frankie could walk in.

"Actually, believe it or not, you're not the first one here… although everyone here is one of Charlie's friends, so you are the first of my friends to get here," Jane said as Frankie looked around at the people lounging on the large black leather L-shaped couch that dominated the majority of the living room. The rest of the room was taken up by Bears, Bulls, and Cubs memorabilia. Frankie raised an eyebrow, her finger tightening around her black Coach purse slung over her shoulder.

"This apartment is very… charming," she managed. Jane leaned in closer.

"Don't worry, I know it's a total guy's apartment. The sports memorabilia will be the first to go after we're married." Jane winked and Frankie laughed, relieved. "C'mon in, I'll introduce you to everybody."

"Okay." Frankie followed Jane further into the living room, where Jane got the group's attention. Frankie looked around, suddenly realizing that she had definitely overdressed. There were about 8 people scattered around the living room, 6 of them guys, and every single one was wearing some sort of Bears spirit wear. Frankie fidgeted – and she never fidgets. It takes a lot to make Frankie feel uncomfortable, but in that moment, in her designer jeans, black button-up shirt and brand new Jimmy Choos… she definitely felt uncomfortable.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my best friend, Frankie Darcy," Jane introduced her. "Frankie, this is Sam, Eric, Jason, Jason's wife Grace, Alex and his girlfriend Bailey, and this…" She reached over to the guy sitting on the end of the couch closest to her, pulling him up. "…is Charlie Bennett." Charlie smiled, looking nervous. He was cute enough, with bright red hair that looked like it wasn't easy to tame and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Frankie smiled as well.

"Hi Charlie, it's so nice to finally meet you," she said, extending her hand. Charlie shook it, surprised by the firmness of her handshake.

"Yeah, you too, I've heard so much about you."

"Likewise." Their hands dropped to their sides, the moment turning slightly awkward. Frankie turned to face Jane. "Need any help in the kitchen, Janie?"

"Oh yeah, sure, c'mon in." Jane led the way into the small kitchen, which was covered with miscellaneous snacks and drinks.

"You need to chill out, girl," Jane said, handing Frankie a beer. Frankie wrinkled her nose, holding the beer as if it was a dirty sock. It wasn't even a lite beer.

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly relaxed," Frankie lied. Jane looked at her skeptically, and Frankie rolled her eyes. "Alright fine, I'm not, but you have to admit it's an awkward situation. I don't know any of these people, I overdressed, we're going to be watching a sporting event that I have absolutely no interest in…" This time Jane was the one to roll her eyes as she reached over and popped the tab of the beer in Frankie's hand. Frankie took the hint and forced down a gulp.

"I know, but I just want you to try, okay? Please. For me." Frankie sighed and was about to reply when there was another knock on the door at the same moment that the oven started beeping. "Oh shit, I have to take these out of the oven… could you get the door? It's probably just the Chinese food, no one else is supposed to be here for another hour… my purse is sitting by the door," Jane called after her as Frankie headed for the door. Frankie opened the door as she leaned down to grab the purse.

"Hello… how much do we owe you?" she asked, glancing up at the man behind the door. He was tall and broad, with dark curly hair and dark eyes, wearing a stained white t-shirt and old ratty jeans, a large white bag dangling from his fingers. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

"How much do we owe you?" she repeated louder, digging through Jane's purse to find her wallet.

"I'm sorry… who are you?" Frankie frowned.

"What does it matter? You're delivering food, I have money, so why don't you just tell me how much we owe you?" she asked slowly, enunciating each word as if he were some kind of an idiot. The man smiled and chuckled.

"You owe me nothing, sweetheart," he said, brushing past her to come into the apartment. Frankie watched in shock as Charlie looked up and smiled.

"Hey Eddie, you're here early, I thought you couldn't be here until the 2nd half," Charlie greeted him.

"Yeah, well, Dad let me off work early," the man, who was apparently named Eddie, said. He set down his bag, and Frankie could see from where she was still standing by the door that it held a bunch of clothes. "Mom wanted me to drop this bag off for you."

"Okay, thanks." Frankie finally managed to close her mouth, though the feeling of mortification was spreading through her like never before. Eddie turned back and smiled at her.

"I guess we weren't properly introduced," he said, extending his hand. "I'm Eddie Bennett, Charlie's brother." Frankie composed herself as best she could, though she could tell that her cheeks were flaming red.

"Frankie Darcy," she said, shaking his hand. She couldn't help but notice the tingle that shot up her arm. She quickly pulled her hand back.

"What's going on over there?" Charlie asked, his attention torn away from the television. Eddie grinned.

"Frankie over here apparently mistook me for a delivery guy," Eddie said with a chuckle.

"Ed, leave the poor girl alone," one of the guys on the couch piped in. Eddie's eyes ran down the length of Frankie, and she squirmed. She never squirmed either – what was it about this apartment that was making her lose all of her composure?

"Let me guess… you took one look at my dirty apparel and 5:00 shadow and assumed I must be one of the help?" he asked. Frankie's jaw dropped again, in righteous indignation this time.

"Excuse me?" was all she could manage.

"Well, I mean, let's face facts… look at me, and then look at you… you're probably used to people like me waiting on you hand and foot, right?" Behind Eddie she could hear a few of the people chuckling, though she could see that they were all pretending they weren't listening. Except for Charlie, who looked fairly embarrassed.

"Eddie, she made a mistake, leave her alone," he pleaded with his brother. Frankie didn't give him the opportunity to tease her anymore – she spun on her heel and headed back into the kitchen.

"Where's the food?" Jane asked with a frown when she saw her. Frankie narrowed her eyes.

"Why don't you ask the delivery guy? He's in the living room talking to his brother, Charlie." Jane's mouth formed a small "o" before she started to laugh.

"I'm guessing Eddie gave you a real hard time about that," she said through her giggles.

"Yeah no kidding… god, what an ass. It was an honest mistake." Jane gave her a sympathetic look, though she couldn't seem to manage to stop laughing. There was another knock at the door, and Frankie looked at Jane pointedly.

"Go pay for your own damn Chinese food." Jane laughed and went over to the door.

* * *

A little while later, after arranging the massive amounts of food on the coffee and end tables in the living room, Jane and Frankie made themselves comfortable on the couch just in time for the kickoff. A couple more of their friends had arrived, and Frankie arranged herself between Jane and their friend Carly. Everyone on the couch dug into the food, and Frankie watched with her eyes wide as the huge platters became half empty almost before her eyes. She sighed and took another swig of the beer that she was still nursing. Eddie, sitting a few feet away, caught a glimpse of her and smiled. 

"Aren't you hungry Frankie?" he asked with an annoying wink. Frankie narrowed her eyes. This guy was going from bad to worse, and it was starting to really piss her off.

"Actually, I am a little hungry… why don't you go run and pick up a couple of pizzas for me?" Every gaze in the room snapped towards her, but this time, it didn't faze her. She felt like she was in front of the boardroom pitching one of her million-dollar ideas… this was a lot more like it. Eddie raised his eyebrows. "Oh that's right… you're NOT the delivery guy. Right. Sorry, you just look like you belong in a pizza delivery truck. Keeps throwing me off." She looked back at the television, sensing that all of the eyes in the room were still on her. After an awkward pause, the first chuckles emerged.

"Well then… I guess she put you in your place," Charlie said, clearly amused. Frankie ventured a glance back towards Eddie, surprised to see that he was smiling too.

"Yes, that's right, she did… she has a place for everyone, and she put me in a neat little box clearly marked 'White Trash.'" Eddie's remark was greeted by a chorus of "oooh"s from the rest of the group. Frankie curved her lips into a smug smile matching his.

"No actually, your box is marked 'Asshole.'"

"Alright, that's enough," Jane interrupted. "Both of you stop, or I'm going to put you in separate boxes." Eddie shook his head, chuckling, while Frankie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Charlie helped out his fiancée by changing the subject to the play the Bears had just made, and after a few minutes the tension finally eased again. Frankie had just helped herself to a plate of the orange chicken when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Charlie called over his shoulder. The door opened, and Frankie watched as a man she didn't recognize walked in. He seemed a bit more timid than the rest of Charlie's friends, walking slowly through the door with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. He had a messy head of mousy brown hair, and his chubby frame wandered into the room.

"Hey, Zach, good to see you, buddy," Charlie greeted him. "Come on over. This is my fiancée, Jane Bell, and her friends, Carly Lucas, Frankie Darcy, and Rachel Friedman. Ladies, this is my friend Zach Collins." Everyone smiled and greeted Zach, and he gave them all a friendly wave. His eyes scanned over everyone there, landing finally on Frankie. She gulped when she recognized the look on his face – his eyes widened, and a blush came to his round cheeks.

"It's uh, it's nice to meet all of you," he stuttered to all of them, though his gaze stayed focused on Frankie. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Eddie start to chuckle, which just made the situation even more embarrassing than it already was.

She sighed, wondering what exactly Jane was marrying into.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading everybody! I originally posted this over on and one of my readers there suggested posting it over here, telling me that I'd probably get a few more readers, so I did. :) I hope everyone's enjoying it so far! The story is already completely written, so I'll update fairly quickly. But please review! I love to hear what you all think. :) Thanks again!


	2. A Million Ways

_oh such grace  
oh such beauty  
and lipstick and callous  
and fishnets and malice  
oh darlin'  
you're a million ways to be cruel…_

_-Ok Go, "A Million Ways"_

**CHAPTER TWO**

So that was how Frankie and Eddie's met – she mistook him for a Chinese food delivery guy, and he took every opportunity to tease her about it. It was pretty obvious that Frankie had wounded his precious male ego, and he was trying to make up for it by making jokes, like he always did in uncomfortable situations. Not that Frankie was completely innocent either. Eddie was right, in a respect. She had made up her mind about him the moment she laid eyes on him, just like she does with everyone. Like I said, no one in the world would have put them together in a relationship, especially after that catastrophic first meeting.

Normally a simple misunderstanding like that one would've been laughed off. The problem was that both Eddie and Frankie had such strong personalities, and neither of them were used to someone challenging them. That's exactly what they were to each other – a challenge.

They were a challenge to the rest of us too. After that party I got stressed out, because I didn't want my best friend to hate the guts of my fiancée's brother, and Charlie agreed with me that they would probably be spending a lot of time together in the future, especially considering Charlie was planning on Eddie as best man and I was planning on Frankie as maid-of-honor. Even beyond that, we were convinced that if both Frankie and Eddie would just drop their tough-guy exteriors, they would eventually come to at least tolerate each other, if not like each other as friends. I was the one who came up with the idea of forcing them into a situation together without either of them being aware of it. Charlie was wary at first, but I convinced him… (ladies, you know what I mean.)

So we tried again, this time, with the intention of forcing them to get along, whether they wanted to or not.

* * *

"Francesca Darcy," Frankie answered her phone, rummaging around on her desk for a file that she couldn't for the life of her find.

"Hey, you're a hard woman to get a hold of," Jane's voice came over the line. Frankie sighed. "I tried your cell a couple times, tried your secretary once but she wouldn't let me through, so I had to call back and lie and say I was your gynecologist with test results…"

Frankie smiled despite herself. "Sorry about that, it's been a really hectic day, I asked Lisa to help preserve my sanity by not taking any calls," she explained.

"It's alright… I won't bug you for long, I just wanted to see if you're free tomorrow night."

Frankie reached over to her palm pilot to check her calendar. "I am indeed free tomorrow. Why, what's up?"

"Would you want to go out for dinner with me and Charlie?"

Frankie frowned. "Why would you want me to come along?"

Jane laughed. "Oh, excuse me, I kinda like spending time with my best friend, but that's clearly my fault."

Frankie smiled again. "Sorry, I just figured that kind of sounds like a date… I wouldn't want to be a third wheel."

"It's not like that at all… Charlie wants to get to know you better. I mean, I can't just leave him with the impression that he got of you at the party."

Frankie groaned and rubbed her temple. Just when she had started to forget about that idiot Eddie Bennett, Jane had to remind her… the thought of him and his irritating grin still made her blood boil. "Don't remind me. I'm sure I made a terrible impression on everyone there, even my own friends."

Jane giggled. "Well then come to dinner with us, it'll give you a chance to redeem yourself, at least to Charlie anyways."

"Alright, fine. What time?"

"I'll pick you up around 7, and then we'll meet Charlie at the restaurant."

"Sounds good. See you then."

* * *

"Hey man, what are you up to tomorrow night?" Charlie asked after heaving a large wooden beam onto the growing pile. Eddie grunted as he heaved another beam right next to it, then reached up and rubbed his shoulder.

"I dunno… why?" The two started walking back over to the truck where they were moving the beams from, Charlie adjusting his gloves.

"Jane and I were thinking that it'd be fun if you came out to dinner with us."

Eddie frowned. "Just the 3 of us?"

"Yeah… Jane wants to get to know you better… and personally I think that's a good idea, because frankly, the impression she got of you at the party was less than flattering."

Eddie's lips curled into a smile as he remembered the party, and Frankie Darcy. She had been irritating, but he had to admit it was fun to irritate her, and easy too. He took one look at her and knew exactly what buttons to push. The surprising thing was how much she had fought back. He didn't think she'd have it in her. He looked at his brother, seeing that it was clearly important to him. Eddie sighed.

"Alright, fine… we're not going to some frou-frou restaurant, are we?"

Charlie winced, and Eddie groaned before lugging another beam onto his shoulder, nearly taking Charlie's head off in the process.

"Sorry, man, she wanted it to be 'nice'…" Charlie pathetically tried to explain. Eddie didn't say anything, just walked over to plop the beam back down again.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I'll be there."

"Good… I'll pick you up around 7, and then we'll meet them at the restaurant."

Eddie stopped in his tracks, Charlie almost running into his shoulder.

"What do you mean, 'them'?" he asked carefully. Charlie's eyes widened slightly, but then returned to normal.

"Her. I meant her. We'll meet her at the restaurant," he answered before walking back towards the truck. Eddie watched him go, hands on his hips.

* * *

"So… explain to me again why I didn't just meet you at the restaurant?" Frankie asked as she and Jane rode in a cab together. Jane had had to come all the way down to Frankie's work building to get her and then go all the way back across town to the restaurant, which was only a few blocks from Jane's apartment.

"We'd already made the plan… I don't know," Jane said, shrugging. Frankie just shook her head and laughed, pulling a compact mirror out of her purse to check her makeup. "So how come you had to work late?"

"Oh, just this client who has us jumping through all kinds of hoops… it's a little frustrating, actually, but I can't just tell my boss that I don't want them as my account anymore, I was the one who landed the account in the first place." She put her compact away and turned to Jane as best she could in the backseat, holding out her arms. "How do I look? Am I dressed okay?" Jane glanced at her outfit of plain black pants with a red blouse underneath a black jacket.

"You look fine. Why are you asking me how you look? You know the restaurant we're going to even better than I do," Jane pointed out. Frankie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well… the last time I went into a social situation with you I was a bit over dressed. I just wanted to make sure that I actually do redeem myself a little tonight."

Jane giggled and touched Frankie's elbow. "I can assure you that Charlie didn't pay a bit of attention to how you were dressed at the party, and he probably won't notice anything tonight either. You could walk into that restaurant in heels and a bustier and he probably would barely notice."

Frankie raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that I'm not attractive?"

Jane rolled her eyes and swatted her on the arm. After a few minutes they pulled into the restaurant, Jane checking her watch for the millionth time as they exited the cab.

"Why do you keep checking your watch like a mad woman?" Frankie asked, pulling her black trench coat closed for the short walk to the restaurant in the brisk Chicago fall air.

"No reason…" Jane drifted off. Frankie scrutinized her. She was up to something – you didn't know someone for over 20 years and not notice when they were acting weirdly. Jane led the way into the restaurant, and they checked their coats before heading over to the maitre'd.

"Yes, we have reservations for 7:15, under Bennett," she said. The maitre'd checked his book before nodding and motioning for them to follow him. They were seated with menus and the waiter was off to get them a couple of glasses of wine when Frankie noticed that there were four chairs around the table they were sitting at.

"Jane, why are there…" she started, but she didn't finish her question, because it had become glaringly obvious. As she was asking the question she happened to glance in the direction they had just come from, seeing Charlie heading towards them… with Eddie walking right next to him. Frankie glowered at her supposed best friend, who smiled innocently.

"Oh wow, look who's here, Frankie…"

"Jane, you little-" Frankie started to mutter under her breath, stopping when Charlie and Eddie got to the table.

"Hey look, Eddie… it's Frankie." Frankie tore her gaze over to Eddie, who was looking at her in a way that suggested that he wasn't much happier than she was at the recent turn of events. Frankie rolled her eyes.

"Let me guess… you guys told both of us that we would be having dinner with the two of you just to get us into the same room to force us to get along? Nice try, Jane, but this isn't the Flintstones," Frankie stated, her voice sounding bored as she crossed her arms over her chest. Jane pouted.

"C'mon, Frankie… it's just one dinner," she pointed out. Frankie let out a scoff, noticing that Charlie was attempting to strong-arm his brother into sitting down. He finally managed to succeed, probably just because Eddie didn't want to attract attention by slugging his brother in the middle of a posh restaurant. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Eddie looked pretty good… he had doffed his stained T-shirt and ripped jeans for a pair of khakis and a clean button-up, though his curls were still in an untamed mop on top of his head, and she could see the calluses on his hands from where she sat across the table.

"Okay guys, here's the deal…" Jane said once Eddie and Charlie were seated. "Eddie, you are Charlie's brother, and future best man. Frankie, you are my best friend, practically sister, and my future maid-of-honor. If you guys don't get along… well, this whole wedding ordeal is going to be unnecessarily difficult. And I don't want anyone turning my wedding into a shouting match, so unless you want to deal with a real Bridezilla, I suggest you guys find some sort of way to get along, so at least you're not verbally assaulting each other constantly."

"Not only that, but we think that if you guys could stop pretending like you're so tough in front of each other, you might actually become friends," Charlie added. Jane winced as both Frankie and Eddie scoffed in unison.

"Not likely," Frankie said at the same time that Eddie said, "Maybe when pigs fly." Jane sighed and looked at Charlie, who shrugged helplessly. Frankie rolled her eyes.

"Alright, fine… I can't speak for Mr. Bennett over there… but I will try my best to be civil for the sake of your wedding," she conceded. All eyes turned to Eddie, and she smiled smugly at him, glad that he looked like the bad guy in the situation. Eddie glared at her before rolling his eyes

"Okay, yeah, me too," he said gruffly. Jane and Charlie both beamed.

"Great!" The table sat in silence for a moment. Jane cleared her throat.

"Who needs some wine?"

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Charlie said, putting his fork down as he focused his attention on Frankie. "You are a junior partner in the biggest marketing firm in Chicago, and you only graduated from college 3 years ago?" Frankie felt her cheeks redden.

"Well, I mean… yes, in a manner of speaking…"

Jane smiled at her. "Ignore her, she always gets modest. She's the most successful 25 year old that Chicago has ever seen," Jane bragged for her.

"Wow… that's really amazing, Frankie," Charlie complimented her. Frankie shrugged it off, but she didn't want to seem rude, so she thanked him.

"So… Jane tells me that you work for your dad," Frankie said, changing the subject quickly. Charlie nodded, picking up his fork and taking another bite of his dinner.

"Yeah, actually, Eddie and I both work for his construction company, Bennett Construction."

"So are you guys going to be taking over the business one day?" she asked.

"Charlie is," Eddie answered. Frankie looked over at him in surprise. He'd barely said two words since the beginning of dinner. "Charlie's got the college degree, so he'll be taking over the business. I'm just the manual labor." Frankie cleared her throat, feeling slightly awkward for an unknown reason. She looked back over at Charlie.

"Where did you go to college?" she asked.

"I got my bachelor's in business at Chicago State University," he responded. Frankie smiled.

"That's great," she said. Charlie bobbed his head in agreement.

"Where did you go to school?" Eddie asked. Frankie was surprised to see that he had directed the question towards her.

"Oh, uh… I went to Northwestern, same as Jane," she said, slightly flustered. She saw Charlie and Jane exchange a look out of the corner of her eye, and she frowned at them. _What was that about?_

"So Frankie," Eddie started, leaning forward in his chair. "You have a boyfriend?" Frankie's eyebrows shot up to her hairline, and she couldn't respond.

"I'm sorry?" she finally managed to get out. Charlie was glaring at his brother, who shrugged innocently.

"What? I'm just trying to get to know her better, and that's a part of getting to know her… so do you?" Frankie's gaping mouth finally closed.

"Well… no, not that that's really any of your business," she said, quickly taking a sip of wine. Her mouth had suddenly gotten very dry.

"Hmm… that's a shame," Eddie said, the sarcasm obvious in his voice. She narrowed her eyes, her embarrassment turning into anger. She was about to say something snappy in retort, but she noticed the frustrated looks on both Jane and Charlie's faces, so she didn't. She decided to go for banter instead of outright attack, plastering a smile on her face.

"What about you, Eddie? I'm sure a stud like you has girls just crawling all over him, right?" she asked sweetly, without a trace of her inner contempt. Eddie raised an eyebrow before responding.

"I have my fair share of dates."

"Let me guess… big blonde hair, bright red lips, and a night out to the local country bar?" she asked. She noticed Jane giggling behind her hand, and Charlie shooting her a death glare. Eddie smiled back at Frankie just as sweetly.

"Right on the money, sweetheart… now for you, I'm seeing guys named Cooper, Marshall, Wentworth, and maybe even Richie Rich, and a night out to see the ballet, with the poor sap falling asleep in his chair next to you."

This time Charlie joined Jane in trying to conceal his laughter. Frankie glared at her friend, who looked at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry… it's just that… didn't you date a guy named Cooper once?" Jane barely managed to get the question out between her laughs. Charlie laughed even harder.

"Hey, I know I'm lucky to go out with such rich, good-looking guys. After all, the poor bimbos who go out with Eddie probably count themselves lucky if he springs for a warm beer, am I right?"

"When you're right, you're right," Eddie agreed, leaning back in his chair. "My dates definitely don't go out with me because I can treat them to a night out on the town… I have other things to offer them." Eddie winked at her. She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help a slight smile appearing on her lips, just as the sheer audacity of the man sitting across from her. She had to admit… it was kind of fun bantering back and forth with him like this. She'd never met a guy who could hold his own against her before.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold the damn phone…" Eddie said, leaning forward in his chair again. His eyes lit up as he looked over at Frankie. "Do I actually see a hint of a smile on your face? Like, an actual smile, not a 'nice-to-meet-you-I-plastered-this-on-this-morning' smile?" Now it was impossible to keep the smile from growing on her face.

"Don't get cocky, I'm not smiling because of you," she said. She jerked her head towards Jane, who was still laughing beside her. "I'm smiling because Jane just snorted."

"Hey! I did not!" Jane protested.

"Don't worry, you don't have to lie… I know that I'm funny and charming, not to mention devastatingly handsome," Eddie said cockily, leaning back against his chair again and rubbing his hand across his chest. Frankie let out a loud laugh.

"And oh so modest too, right?" she added.

"Of course."

Frankie laughed again. "You are the cockiest ass I've ever met," she said, though her words didn't have the bitter tinge that they'd had at the party.

"Strangely appealing, isn't it?" he said with another wink. She looked at him incredulously.

"Alright, alright, enough, to your corners, both of you," Jane said, still giggling.

"I do believe I won that round," Eddie said, pretending to buff his fingernails on his shirt. Frankie scoffed.

"Keep dreamin', buddy," she said.

"Oh… I will." He winked yet again.

"Would you quit winking at me?"

"I'm not winking at you." He winked again.

"Yes you are! Cut it out!"

"Cut what out?" Wink.

"That!"

"What? I'm not doing anything." Wink. Frankie shook her head, wondering when exactly she'd turned into a 6 year old.

"Fine. Be a child. That's fine with me," she said, lifting up her glass of wine. She drained the glass, then reached over to the bottle and filled it up again. Not to be outdone, especially by a woman, Eddie drained his glass as well, filled it up again, and then drained it again. Frankie laughed.

"This is wine, not a beer bong," she pointed out. He smiled and lifted his glass to her.

"Alcohol is just alcohol to country folk like me."

* * *

A little while later, after dinner was finished, Charlie made the decision for all of them to go to a bar a few blocks down, because – surprise of all surprises – they were actually having fun as a group. Eddie and Frankie had been at each other the entire night, but everyone could see that both of them were enjoying it. The bar was one of Charlie and Eddie's favorite hangouts, and Frankie cringed slightly when they first walked in. It was a sports bar, with TVs playing sporting events in every corner and sports memorabilia hanging all over the walls. They made their way to the bar, and Frankie cringed slightly when she realized her expensive boots were sticking to the floor.

"Ladies, allow me to take your coats," Charlie said, taking Jane and Frankie's coats. Frankie watched as he walked over to the wall and hung her $300 designer trench coat up on a peg. She was making a move to go take it back when she felt a hand on her arm.

"What can I get you to drink, Frankie?" Eddie asked. She hadn't realized how close he'd been standing to her… or how tall and broad he was.

"I don't know… what do you people drink in a place like this?" she asked with her innocent smile that had been spreading her lips all evening. He smiled back down at her.

"Not wine, that's for sure." He turned to the bartender and handed him a few bills, but Frankie couldn't hear what he'd ordered. When he turned back around she saw 8 shotglasses sitting in front of him on the bar. Frankie raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's in those?" she asked. He didn't answer, but handed her one of the shotglasses. She looked down at the amber colored liquid. "How do I know you're not trying to kill me?" she asked. He laughed.

"Oh trust me, Frankie, if I wanted to kill you I'd have to be a lot smarter than to put something into your drink."

Frankie laughed as well. "That's true, very true." He lifted up one of the shotglasses, and she lifted up hers, and they clinked them together before leaning their heads back and downing them. The liquid burned down her throat, and she coughed.

"Tequila… nice," she said. Eddie laughed.

"You're not as classy as you seem, Ms. Darcy. I can sense a little bit of trashiness in you."

* * *

A/N: Wow, thanks to **glabolah, mudpie7386, k8bob8**, and **Willow-41z** for all the reviews! Keep it up! I wanted to mention to allof you... it was pointed out when I posted this story over on fictionpress that I tend to put sentences involving actions after dialogue that was not said by the same person. For instance...

_"Would you want to go out for dinner with me and Charlie?" Frankie frowned._

_"Why would you want me to come along?" _

(The first line of dialogue was said by Jane, the second by Frankie.) So I've been trying to catch that as much as possible, because I know that can be confusing. So, for this example, I changed it to this...

_"Would you want to go out for dinner with me and Charlie?" _

_Frankie frowned. "Why would you want me to come along?" _

So if I miss some, or if it's still confusing, or if it doesn't flow well, let me know. :) Thanks everybody! Keep reading and reviewing!


	3. I've Got You Under My Skin

_I'd tried so not to give in._

_I said to myself: this affair never will go so well._

_But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well_

_I've got you under my skin?_

_-Frank Sinatra, "I've Got You Under My Skin"_

**CHAPTER THREE**

Yes, that's right… Eddie got Frankie drunk.

Don't ask me how that happened… I have not seen Frankie drunk since our freshman year of college, when she tasted alcohol for the first time and apparently, couldn't get enough of it. Ever since she spent the next morning puking, she swore that she would never drink more than 2 drinks in one night. Of course, a lot of people set limits for themselves like that, but the funny thing about Frankie was that she actually STUCK to them – I hadn't seen her down more than 2 regular-sized drinks in one evening.

That night, after hauling Frankie's drunk ass back to her apartment and crashing on her couch to make sure she didn't die in her sleep, was when I realized for the first time that Eddie was getting to her. Coincidentally, that's when Frankie realized the same thing for herself as well.

* * *

Frankie groaned and rolled over, convinced that it was not possible for the sun to be that bright, and her apartment must've somehow levitated and moved 20 feet away from the actual surface of the sun. Her head was throbbing, and her upchuck reflex was working strongly against her. This could all mean only one thing. 

She'd broken her 2-drink rule the night before.

The events from the evening before slowly came back to her, and she groaned even louder and pulled one of her pillows on top of her head.

The dinner. The surprise guest. Bantering with Eddie.

Tequila.

More banter.

More tequila.

That was about all she could wrap her mind around… the rest was still a complete blur. She was debating staying in her bed for the rest of her life when she heard noises in her kitchen, followed closely by footsteps coming down the hall towards her bedroom. She was too hungover to even be concerned for her own safety, and wondered fleetingly if the intruder would just put her out of her misery if she asked nicely.

"Good morning, sunshine," the voice greeted her cheerfully. _Damn. Jane won't kill me._

"Urrghhh," Frankie muttered in response. She felt her covers ripped from her, and she curled into a tight ball.

"C'mon, Francesca, up and at 'em… that's the downside of getting drunk on a Wednesday night… you have to go to work the next day." At that, Frankie bolted up right and looked at her clock, relieved when she saw she still had an hour to get to work. She rubbed her temples and tried to recover from her sudden burst of adrenaline.

"I completely forgot what day it was," she muttered.

"Yeah… I'm surprised you didn't forget more, like your skirt or something. Anyway, I made coffee, there's fresh bagels in the kitchen –" Jane was cut off when Frankie groaned, clutching her stomach in a wave of nausea. "…okay, scratch the bagels, but you gotta get up, darlin."

"God I would so love to have one of those jobs where I could just call in sick right now," Frankie muttered, still rubbing her temples.

"Yeah, well… you don't, so get your ass outta bed, because I have to get to work too."

Frankie sighed and managed to grab her robe as she stumbled into the bathroom. She emerged again 20 minutes later, deciding to forego her usual hair routine and instead slick her wet hair back into a braid, and put on her most comfortable work clothes. Jane was in the kitchen when she walked in, and she held out a steaming cup of black coffee. Frankie accepted it and took a long gulp. She couldn't help but notice as she swallowed that Jane was grinning at her like an idiot. Frankie rolled her eyes, then winced at the pain and made a mental note never to do that again.

"Why do you look so damn smug? And while I'm asking questions, why the hell aren't you as hungover as I am?"

"I'm not hungover because I actually know how to control myself around alcohol… and I'm smug because I cannot believe how much of a success last night's dinner was."

"Oh really," Frankie said dryly. She picked up a bagel and forced herself to take a bite.

"Well yeah… did you forget how much you and Eddie were flirting last night?"

Frankie choked on her bagel.

"I mean, Charlie and I wanted you guys to get along, yes, but we were just aiming for you not to try and strangle each other while standing at the altar of our wedding, we didn't think that you'd actually flirt."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second," Frankie said once she'd managed to swallow. "I was not flirting. That was not flirting."

"Oh come on, Frankie, who are you kidding? You've never had that much fun flirting with someone and you know it."

"No, I don't know that, because I wasn't flirting!"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Y'know, Denial ain't just a river in Egypt."

Frankie slammed her cup of coffee down on the counter. "For the last freaking time, Jane, I. Was. Not. Flirting. Why would I flirt with a guy like Eddie Bennett? He is the exact polar opposite of everything I look for in a guy. He's crude, he's uncultured, uneducated, offensive, he's clearly a womanizer, though how he accomplishes that is beyond me, he's… he's actually, literally dirty. Did you see his fingernails last night? Ugh."

Jane examined her, her head slightly cocked to the side. "And yet… you flirted. Why exactly do you think that is?"

Frankie groaned. "Alright, that's it. I do not need this, especially not on this particular morning. I'm going to work."

"What about the rest of your coffee?" Jane called after her as Frankie grabbed her briefcase and started for the door.

"I'll get some at the office. Lock up after you leave. And by the way… I hate you."

"Hate you back, Flirty McFlirterson."

* * *

"Morning," Eddie grumbled as he walked into the office of Bennett Construction the next morning, an hour and a half later than he normally showed up for work. Charlie chuckled, watching his brother as he walked straight for the coffee pot. 

"Well you had a good time last night," Charlie commented. Eddie shook his head and quickly downed half the contents of the small styrofoam cup.

"Yeah… I keep forgetting that tequila makes you drunk, and being drunk when you have to go to work the next morning is typically a bad idea."

Charlie laughed and made his way towards him. "So… you remember what happened last night?"

Eddie's brow furrowed. "I remember the dinner… and I remember the bar afterwards… and the tequila… but that's about it."

"So I guess that means that you don't recall flirting the entire night with Frankie Darcy."

Eddie scoffed and shook his head again. "You're damn right I don't remember that, because there's no way in hell that that would actually happen." He refilled the cup.

"Trust me, dude… you were flirting."

Eddie looked thoughtful as he took another gulp of his coffee. "Okay. I'll admit it was fun trading potshots with Frankie. Most women I talk to either agree with everything I say, or don't say much of anything at all, so it was… refreshing to meet a woman who could actually hold up her end of the conversation. But, that being said… I wasn't flirting, because flirting implies that you're attracted to the person, and I am not attracted to Frankie."

"Why not? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Jane… but Frankie's beautiful, don't you think?"

"I dunno…" Eddie said, shrugging one shoulder. "She's not my type. I don't go for beautiful girls, you know that. I go for hot girls, or cute girls. Frankie is just… I mean, she screams high maintenance, don't you think?"

"I don't think she's as bad as you think she is."

Eddie scoffed. "I doubt it. Dude, she opened your front door at that party, and I had her figured out within about 2 minutes."

"Man, she was right, you are a cocky ass."

"I'm serious, man. Those clothes, that hair, that attitude… she's a rich snob who doesn't think that any man, much less a man like me, is worthy of even being in her presence."

"And yet… she let you get her totally piss drunk on tequila last night," Charlie pointed out, leaning against the wall. Eddie grinned.

"Oh yeah… I did do that, didn't I? That was mostly for my own amusement." Charlie laughed and walked back to his desk.

"You're terrible."

* * *

"Francesca Darcy," Frankie answered her cell phone. She frowned when no one responded, cradling the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she typed on her computer at work. "Hello, is anyone there?" she repeated. She heard breathing this time. She narrowed her eyes and picked the phone up. "Okay, if this is some sort of obscene call-" 

"Frankie?" a timid voice asked. She frowned.

"Who is this?"

"This is, uh… Zach. Zach Collins. We met at Charlie's apartment?" Realization dawned on Frankie, and she almost groaned out loud.

"Yes, of course, Zach, I remember you. How are you?"

"I'm uh… I'm really good, how are you?"

"I'm good. How did you get my phone number?"

"Charlie gave it to me, actually."

Frankie rolled her eyes. "Oh, how nice of him. So what can I do for you?"

"Well, actually, I was, uh… just, um… wondering, if… oh shit… oh god I can't believe I just said shit… um, I was wondering if…" Frankie looked up to see her assistant at her door and she let out a breath of relief.

"Zach, I hate to interrupt you, but I'm at work right now and I'm late for a meeting. I'm so sorry. Can I call you back?"

"Oh… oh, yeah, absolutely… do you need my number?"

"No, I have it on my phone now that you called me."

"Oh right, of course." He laughed nervously. "Well call me soon."

"I will. Talk to you later."

"Okay. Bye."

* * *

"So how did your presentation go?" Jane asked through the cell phone that was pressed to Frankie's ear. 

"It went fine, I guess," Frankie replied, dodging people as she walked down the busy sidewalk. She sighed. "Y'know, I never thought I'd say this… but I really don't want to talk about work anymore."

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say that either," Jane replied. Frankie smirked. She looked down at the address written in the piece of paper on her hand, then looked up at the building she was standing in front of. _Well… this is it._

"I gotta go, Jane," she said into her phone.

"Oh, alright, I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah… bye." She hung up her cell phone and stuck it back in her purse. She looked up at the brown brick building and adjusted her jacket, in disbelief that she was about to walk into Eddie Bennett's apartment building.

It was two days after he had gotten her completely wasted on tequila, and she felt like she'd just that morning recovered from her hangover… and yet, there she was, like some sort of sick masochist, practically begging for a beat-down. She swallowed and reminded herself why she was there – Jane. She wanted to organize a surprise engagement party for Jane and Charlie, and she needed the help of Charlie's brother and best friend, and that was Eddie. She had dug up his phone number only to call it and find that it was actually the number of a local deli. She'd tried several times but always got the same result, and since she couldn't dig up his cell number, she'd managed to get a hold of his address. She was running out of time, and she wasn't going to sit around and wait until he got his act together… so there she was, standing in front of his building.

She walked up the front steps to the building, scanning the names on the buzzer until she found the name "Bennett." She pressed the button, and a few moments later, she heard a voice over the intercom.

"Hello?"

"Eddie? It's Frankie Darcy." There was a pause, and Frankie frowned, wondering if he'd been able to hear her. She was scanning the console to see if there was some sort of "talk" button when Eddie finally spoke up.

"Frankie? Seriously?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's Frankie. Can you let me in? I need to talk to you."

"Oh, uh… yeah, sure, I guess… come on up." There was a loud buzz, and Frankie pulled open the glass door. She rode the elevator up to the 8th floor, where his apartment was, and when she found herself standing in front of his door she was surprised to feel the tiniest little butterflies in her stomach. She frowned. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd had butterflies about anything, much less some guy. She shook it off and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" she heard Eddie's voice through the wood. She eased closer to the door, hearing a bunch of rustling. "Hang on just a minute!" he called again. Frankie put a hand on her hip, waiting for him to open the door. A minute later, the door swung open, and Eddie smiled out at her.

"Well, well, well, it really is you, Frankie. Never expected to see you down here in the ghetto," he remarked. Frankie smirked.

"Funny. Can I come in or do we have to stand in the hallway?"

Eddie stepped back from the door and motioned for Frankie to come in. She brushed past him on her way into the apartment and looked around, unsure of what to expect. She was surprised to see that it didn't look too bad – a little rough around the edges, and obviously, decorated like a typical guy's apartment (meaning, not at all) but she was surprised not to see empty pizza boxes and beer cans lying everywhere. She took a few more steps further in, noticing that the front closet door was open a crack. Eddie quickly stepped up and tried to shove it closed. When the door stayed slightly ajar, he kicked something further in and then managed to shove it closed. Frankie smirked to herself when she realized what was going on.

"Did you… clean?" she asked. Eddie frowned.

"What?"

She chuckled to herself. Eddie may have been good at some things, but playing dumb wasn't one of them. "You cleaned up. While I was on my way up, you were cleaning up your apartment," she stated, now sure that that was what was happening. Eddie rolled his eyes.

"What? No. You're hallucinating," he said. Frankie laughed.

"Alright, fine, you weren't cleaning," she conceded.

"So… why exactly are you here?" he asked. Frankie crossed her arms over her chest.

"You'll be happy to know, this is strictly business… I want to throw a surprise engagement party for Jane and Charlie."

Eddie raised his eyebrows, apparently waiting for more. When no more was coming, he cleared his throat. "Well… that's nice, for you…" he trailed off. "Is this a personal invitation or something?" This time Frankie was the one to roll her eyes.

"No, it's not a personal invitation… gosh, you're slow… I want you to help me plan it."

Eddie frowned. "Me? You want me to help you plan an engagement party?" he asked slowly, emphasizing the words "me" and "you" in total disbelief.

"Yes… why are you looking at me like I just asked you to give me your left kidney?"

"Because… are you aware of who I am? And who you are? And the fact that I'm fairly certain that our ideas of what a party is are pretty much polar opposites?"

"Yes I am aware of that. Do you think I want your help to pick out appetizers or color schemes? No, I want your help because I don't know Charlie all that well, so I need your help with what his schedule is like, the guest list, etc… plus, it's his party too, and I want him to enjoy it, so I guess I do need a little bit of your help with the actual party." Eddie folded his arms across his chest.

"I dunno…" he said hesitantly. Frankie sighed.

"C'mon, Eddie…" she cajoled. "I really want to do this for them, but I can't do it without at least some help." A mischievous smile crept up on his face.

"Alright, fine… but on one condition."

"What's that?" He stretched his arms up over his head before easing closer to her.

"You will have to keep your hands off me. Think you can manage that?" Frankie laughed out loud before pushing him away and heading back towards the door.

"I think somehow I'll find a way to survive." She was about to leave when something occurred to her and she turned back around. "By the way, I've been trying to call you for a week now… is there a reason that every time I tried to call you I got the 12th Street Deli?" Eddie frowned.

"Where'd you get my phone number from?"

"From Jane's address book." Eddie chuckled nervously, running a hand over the back of his neck, and Frankie could've sworn she saw a blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"Oh yeah, that… well, the thing is, when I first met Jane, after she and Charlie started dating… well, uh, I didn't think they'd last that long, and to be completely honest, I found her kind of annoying…" Frankie raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I like her now, she's great, but when I first met her…. Y'know, first impressions and all that, you and I should know that better than anyone…" Realization dawned on Frankie.

"You gave her a fake number, didn't you?" Eddie chuckled again. Yep – definitely a blush.

"Sorta, yeah… and I'm a little unsure as to how to fix that without hurting her feelings." Frankie rolled her eyes, but she had to laugh a little bit.

"We'll figure it out… you want to give me your actual phone number then?" She pulled out her cell phone and he rattled out the digits.

"Okay. I'll call you and we'll figure out a time to get together and start planning," she said after she had saved the number and slipped the phone back into her purse.

"Looking forward to it," Eddie joked, winking. Frankie shook her head.

"Start that winking thing and I'll force you to look at centerpieces with me." Eddie winced.

"Alright, alright, you win, I give."

* * *

"Wow… this looks really fantastic, guys, thank you so much," Gabriella Wicks said, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder as she looked at the extension on the office building that Bennett Construction had just completed. Eddie had been working on this project for weeks and had never seen her before, but she happened to be in the office when they were officially done, and now Eddie couldn't take his eyes off her. She was beautiful, with big brown eyes and dark features – he was guessing she had Hispanic roots somewhere in her heritage. Her hair was slightly curly and thick, and she was wearing a fitted skirt with a white blouse. He thanked God that they hadn't had much to finish up that day, so he wasn't soaked with sweat and wearing a hard hat. He ran his fingers through his hair. 

"Oh yeah… no problem," Eddie said, smiling at her. She smiled back.

"We do have a little bit of paperwork to finish up," Charlie, ever the businessman, said next to him, gesturing to the thick manila folder under his arm.

"Oh right, of course, come on in… are you guys hungry? We just ordered lunch and we've got extra," Gabriella said as she led the two of them into the building. Eddie glanced at his brother, seeing he was clearly about to politely decline, and he jumped in before he had the chance.

"Actually, lunch sounds fantastic. We're famished, right Charlie?" he said, elbowing his brother pointedly. Charlie smiled.

"Oh yeah… famished." Gabriella smiled.

"Great! We can eat while we finish up this paperwork."

Half an hour later the paperwork was finished and the leftover lunch was gone, and Charlie and Eddie were headed for the door. Charlie excused himself and walked to the truck, but Eddie turned back to Gabriella.

"Listen… now that we're no longer working together or anything…" he started, leaning against the side of the building. He noticed Gabriella's smile change from politely professional to flirtatious. "…I was wondering if maybe you'd want to get dinner sometime."

"Dinner, huh?" she said. Eddie nodded. "You hardly know me." Eddie shrugged one shoulder. "No words? Just gestures?" Eddie chuckled and nodded again. "Well, Mr. Sweet Talker, I guess you convinced me." She pulled out a business card from somewhere and handed it to him. "Give me a call, we'll set it up."  
"See you then," Eddie said, walking away with a wink.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews, guys! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter... don't forget to review:)

**Sobee1982:** Thanks for reading! I don't want to give everything away, but there will be a Wickham character (as you can see from this chapter, haha) and Lady Catherine comes later... I did leave out Caroline though, because the family scenes got kinda complicated, so I decided to simplify them as much as possible. Anyway, thanks again and keep reading:)

**Willow-41z:** Thanks for reading and reviewing again. :) You didn't really ask me any specific questions, but I just thought I'd say this, haha... when I swapped the genders of Lizzie and Darcy, what I tried to do is not adhere completely to their characters, because I figure that Lizzie WOULDN'T be exactly the same if she were a man, and vice versa, y'know what I mean? So I tried to imagine how their gender would affect how they act and what they say, and that kinda stuff. Anyway, thanks again for reviewing:)

**drugged-on-chocolate:** thanks for the tip! I allowed anonymous reviews now. :) Thanks!

Thanks also to **poppy **and **k8bob8**! (oh, and k8bob8... I'm glad you like OkGo! They're one of my favorite bands, I always promote them all over the place, since I've been a loyal fan of theirs for like four years, haha... but yeah. awesome song, I agree. hehe.)


	4. I Try

_And I may seem all right and smile when you leave  
But my smiles are just a front  
Just a front, hey  
I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you  
I'll keep my cool, but I'm feelin'…_

_-MacyGray, "I Try"_

**CHAPTER FOUR**

My mom is a very smart woman. She taught me how to shave my legs, how to make the best homemade spaghetti sauce that I've ever tasted, even how to change the oil in my car. One lesson that she pounded repeatedly into my head was "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all." This was one of the hardest for me to swallow as a kid, especially when all I wanted to do was complain about how mean my teacher was, or tell her about how Frankie borrowed my crayons without asking and used my favorite color. She would stop me before I could get very far into my complaint.

"Ah ah ah, Jane, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all."

I love my mom, and like I said, she's one of the smartest women I've met.

So that's why I'm not saying anything about Gabriella Wicks.

* * *

"So have you guys picked a date yet?" Frankie asked, tossing a chocolate into her mouth. She and Jane were having a much-anticipated "Girl's Night," as they hadn't had time for just the two of them since Jane had announced her engagement 3 weeks before. Jane poured herself another glass of wine and made a face.

"No, unfortunately… Charlie just can't seem to grasp the concept that weddings take literally months to plan… he doesn't understand why we should pick a date now when we both know we for sure want a summer wedding, and summer is at least 6 months away."

Frankie shook her head. "Men."

"Hear, hear!" The girls giggled and clinked their glasses together. They were taking gulps of their drinks when the phone rang. Jane watched Frankie with an eyebrow raised as Frankie made no move to answer it. Jane giggled.

"Um… am I the only one who can hear that?"

"I'm screening," Frankie replied. The message machine picks up with a click, and they listen to Frankie's dry outgoing message before Zach Collins's voice fills the room.

"Hi, Frankie, it's Zach Collins… again. Listen, I don't know if you got my other messages, but I was just wondering… well anyway, give me a call whenever you get the chance." He rattled off his phone number before hanging up, and Jane cracked up.

"So… Mr. Collins still calling you?"

Frankie rolled her eyes. "Yes. God, I wish he would stop making me feel like such a bitch. I mean seriously, he's called me at least six times and I still haven't called him back. Hasn't he taken the hint?" Frankie shook her head as Jane continued to laugh. She decided to change the subject. "So what have you guys talked about then? Besides the summer wedding?" she asked. Jane slowed her laugh to a giggle.

"Well… I guess we both want it to be relatively small… it doesn't need to be some huge to-do with gazillions of people, and neither of us want it to cost very much money," Jane explained. A thought occurred to Frankie.

"So what do your parents think of Charlie?" she asked. Now Jane looked bashful.

"They haven't met him yet."

Frankie's eyes widened. "What! I thought you were going to take him over for brunch at your parents' house last week!"

"Yeah, that was what was SUPPOSED to happen, but then my dad got the flu so my mom cancelled."

Frankie shook her head slowly. "I can't believe your parents haven't even met the guy you're going to marry."

"I know, I know, and you know what, I already get so much grief from my mother about it, so I really don't need it from you too," Jane said exasperatedly. Frankie giggled.

"Fine, fine, I get it… so what are the plans now for them meeting?"

"Well, we thought about Thanksgiving, but then Charlie and his family were going to visit his grandmother out in California, so that didn't happen… so now the plan is Christmas. We're all really busy until Christmas, so it's just going to have to wait until then."

"Your mom can actually wait until then? I mean, Christmas isn't for another 3 weeks."

"Yes, but not without a whole lot of bitching, believe you me."

Frankie giggled again. "So Charlie's coming home with you?"

"Actually… his whole family is coming to my house for the holidays."

Frankie's eyes widened. "Don't they have 2 sisters too?" she asked. Jane nodded.

"Our house is going to be very full this year over Christmas."

Frankie nodded, then something occurred to her, and she groaned. "This means that I'm going to be seeing a lot of Eddie over Christmas, doesn't it?"

Jane smiled slyly. "I was wondering when you'd figure that out." Jane and Frankie's families were very close – their mothers were still best friends, after all - and they usually had multiple gatherings in the days leading up to and after Christmas. Frankie groaned again and flopped her head down against the arm of the couch she was sitting on.

"I can't believe that prick is going to be there. It's like the one solace I have, where I know I won't see him… and now he's going to be around my FAMILY over CHRISTMAS?"

"What are you talking about? You haven't seen him since we had dinner that night," Jane pointed out, a confused look on her face. Frankie's mouth snapped shut as she realized her slip. She quickly recovered.

"Yeah, I know… guess it just feels that way cuz he's such an ASS."

"You might as well get over it, Frankie… the Bennetts are about to become a big part of our lives."

Frankie narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at her best friend. "This is all your fault."

Jane rolled her eyes and batted Frankie's hand away.

"Oh shut up, you drama queen. It's not that bad." A Cheshire cat grin spread over Jane's face. "In fact, I think you're enjoying your time with the Bennetts more than you're letting on… or, at least, one of the Bennetts in particular."

"Jane, I swear to God, if you start this crap up again-"

"Frankie, SERIOUSLY. I'm not going to let this go until you admit what is so ridiculously obvious."

"Oh yeah, Dr. Phil? And what is that, exactly?"

"That you are attracted to Eddie," Jane stated simply. Frankie scoffed. "No really, Frankie… you may not particularly like him, or like being around him, but you can't deny the fact that you are attracted to him."

Frankie opened her mouth, fully prepared to let out a snappy retort, but froze in that position.

Why exactly was she protesting this so much?

There was nothing wrong with being attracted to that guy. It didn't mean anything – it didn't mean that she liked his infuriating attitude, his lack of manners, or those stupid cocky winks he kept throwing her way…all it meant was that the guy was decent to look at. She wondered if she should admit this to Jane, but when she realized that if she did it would get her lovely best friend off her back, she sighed and conceded defeat.

"Alright, fine, Jane, I admit it… I am attracted to Eddie."

Jane's eyes widened. "Whoa… didn't think you'd actually do it… okay, well, so…?" Jane's eyes prodded her forward. Frankie furrowed her brow.

"So… what?"

"Exactly… so what? What now?"

"So… I'm attracted to him. End of story. There is no 'what now,' there's nothing more to say about it. The guy is mildly good-looking, so what?"

Jane rolled her eyes again. "Are you sure it's not more than that?"

"How could it possibly be more than that? You know him, you know me, you've SEEN the two of us together… I would have to be delusional to actually consider anything deeper than a fleeting thought of 'hey, he's not completely ugly.'" Jane scrutinized Frankie, and Frankie felt herself squirming under her best friend's contemplative gaze. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just wondering what exactly it is that's holding you back." Frankie opened her mouth to argue, but Jane continued before she got a chance. "Is it because you have this idea that Eddie is totally wrong for you, and you refuse to see that it might be possible that he isn't? Or is it because maybe you see him as a little bit 'beneath' you because he's not as successful as you? Or is it because you're scared to get into any relationship, because it's been so long since you've had one?"

Frankie looked away. "Ouch," she muttered.

Jane sighed. "I'm sorry, Frankie, I didn't mean for it to come out that way… but I'm just really lost as to why you're acting like this. I mean, Christ, haven't you ever heard the expression 'opposites attract'?"

"Of course I have, but the difference is, not only is Eddie the opposite of everything that I am, but all those things that he is that I'm not are things that I find really annoying, or obnoxious, or just… not what I'd want in someone that I dated. Y'know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

Frankie leaned back into the couch, feeling as though she'd just survived some sort of an attack. She sighed – the girl's night now had a definite tense feeling in the air. She didn't want to argue with Jane, she just wanted to have fun and relax with her.

"Franie, I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt your feelings, and I'm sorry that I did. Don't be like this, okay? I don't want it to be tense, I just want to have fun."

Frankie smiled. "Y'know… sometimes it's spooky how much we know each other."

Jane giggled. "Yeah… not to mention, probably not a good thing."

They both giggled and clinked their glasses together again.

* * *

"Hello?" Frankie said into the buzzer. She tried to ignore the fact that those damn butterflies were back again, but they seemed to have grown.

"It's Eddie," the voice crackled through the intercom.

"C'mon up." She buzzed him up and then backed away from the wall, wiping her palms on her khakis. She glanced around her immaculate apartment, making sure for the billionth time that everything was in its place. She flittered over to the coffee table where she'd spread out all her party planning supplies – palm pilot, laptop, lists of phone numbers, price quotes, etc etc. She bit her lip, wondering if it was all a bit too much, but before she'd gotten very far into that thought, the doorbell rang. She straightened her shirt as she quickly walked to the door and swung it open. Eddie was lounging behind the door, wearing a red sweatshirt underneath a very worn denim jacket, his hands stuck deep into the pockets of his jeans.

"Hey Eddie, c'mon in," she greeted him. He nodded at her as he followed her into the apartment, and she swung the door closed behind him. She watched as he meandered around her expansive apartment, taking everything in.

"Nice place you got here," he said in true Eddie fashion. Frankie smiled.

"Thanks. Have a seat. Do you want anything to drink?"

Eddie took off his jacket and tossed it over the arm of the couch. "I don't suppose you have a beer, do you?"

Frankie laughed. "No, sorry… I've got wine. You want a glass of wine?"

Eddie gave her a weird look. "Actually, I'm okay… thanks."

Frankie cleared her throat and sat down next to him awkwardly. "Uh, sure… yeah, we should probably just get started." She rifled through her papers, looking for one in particular.

"So you must make a lot of money, huh?" Eddie asked. Her gaze snapped up towards him, and she was amazed, yet again, at his lack of tact. He caught a glimpse of the look on her face. "I mean, since you have such a nice apartment and all." Frankie smirked to herself. _Nice recovery._

"I make enough," she responded.

"So… you work for an advertising firm, right?"

"Yeah…" Frankie answered hesitantly. What was with this sudden interest in her life?

"What is it exactly that you do?"

"Uh, well… I help to recruit clients, and then once we have the clients, I help them develop their ideas and I lead a creative team that creates an advertising campaign according to what the client says they want, and then I present it to them."

"So I'm guessing to do that you have to be really organized."

Frankie chuckled. "Well yeah… what makes you say that?"

"Oh I don't know… could be just a hunch… or it could be the palm pilot, day planner, AND huge desk calendar sitting in front of us right now."

Frankie looked down at the coffee table and then laughed out loud. "That's true… although in my own defense, the day planner is Jane's. I stole it from her purse this afternoon so we can use it to pick out a date."

Eddie laughed. "Nice. That makes it a little better."

Frankie looked down at Jane's day planner and flipped it open to that month. "So… what I'm thinking is two weeks from now. It's three days before Christmas, which may be cutting it a little close, but I think most people won't have left town yet, especially if we plan far enough ahead… also, I was thinking it would be a good idea to have it in our hometown, because that way it would be really easy for all of Jane's family to be there, and it's not too far from downtown, only about a half hour drive, and I know the perfect place to have it… so Jane's schedule is open, and so is mine… what about you and Charlie?" Eddie leaned forward so that he could look over her shoulder, and Frankie caught a whiff of his smell – not of expensive, overpowering cologne that most men she knew wore, but a softer smell, like soap with just a hint of aftershave. She turned and looked at him, realizing he had indeed shaved. She could feel her heart beating slightly faster. Eddie said something and then looked up at her, and she felt a fierce blush rise to her cheeks when she realized that she had no idea what he'd just said. She cleared her throat and leaned back on the sofa so she wasn't sitting so close to him.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, mortified. Eddie gave her a weird look before repeating himself.

"I said, it looks fine to me. At work tomorrow I can sneak over to Charlie's desk and check his calendar, but as far as I know, he doesn't have any conflicts that day, and I know I don't."

Frankie cleared her throat again, trying to clear Eddie's intoxicating smell from her nose. "Okay, great. Well I'll go ahead and make the reservations, unless I hear from you."

"Soooo where exactly are you making reservations?"

"Oh! Right! Might need to explain all that to you." Frankie laughed nervously, running her fingers through her hair quickly as she pulled up the page on her palm where she'd been making preliminary plans for the party. Eddie smirked at her as she fumbled with the stylus. She started going over it, and he leaned close to her again so that he could look at the small screen in her hand. Frankie took a deep breath and forced herself to ignore his nearness.

* * *

An hour later they had discussed everything necessary. Frankie had run all of her plans by Eddie – the deejay, the food, the decorations, the place, and so on, and he had approved everything. The only thing they had decided Eddie would be in charge of was getting Jane and Charlie to the party at the right time so it would be a good surprise. After settling everything Eddie headed for the door, pulling on his jacket as he did.

"Well thanks for coming over and helping me organize this, I really appreciate it," Frankie said as she followed him towards the door.

"Yeah, no problem… I know I put up a big fuss, but I really think Jane and Charlie are going to like this."

Frankie smiled, surprised that him saying that was actually a relief to her. "Thanks, Eddie," she said sincerely. "I appreciate that." The two of them stood there, Frankie's hand on the knob of the open door, but for a reason that neither of them really knew, no one moved. They just looked at each other for a moment, and even though he wasn't nearly as close to her as he was before, she could still faintly smell that delicious mixture of aftershave and soap.

"I should get going," Eddie said in a low voice.

"Yeah… you should," she replied.

"Are you saying you want me to leave?"

"Well, you yourself said you have to get going… I'm just trying to help you along." Both of them were smiling now.

"Not much gets past you, does it, Frankie?" he asked. She laughed, but he continued. "No I'm serious… you don't let anything past that hard exterior. You could be feeling the most intense emotion of your life, but no one would be able to tell, because you'd still have that cool, confident smile."

Frankie wasn't sure what to say. "I don't wear my heart on my sleeve, no," she finally said. "But I don't think that's a bad thing."

"Oh neither do I." He paused, and his smile broadened. Her heartbeat increased as he leaned ever so closer to her. "But I did crack that hard exterior, didn't I?"

Frankie raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Just now, sitting on the couch… you were flustered around me. Admit it."

Frankie let out a loud laugh. "Um… no. I don't think so." Eddie's smile didn't falter.

"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, sweet cheeks."

Frankie's eyebrows shot up even higher. "Um, excuse me, but if you call me sweet cheeks again, I will use my pepper spray on you. Second of all, why do people keep saying that to me?"

"What?"

"Nevermind… there, that enough emotion for you?"

Eddie laughed. "Oh yeah. Plenty." He gave her one last look before turning and walking out the door.

But he didn't get very far.

The two of them had been so wrapped up in each other that they hadn't noticed the short man who had walked up and was standing just three feet away from them outside the door.

"Oh… Zach. Hi," Frankie said in surprise.

"Hi Frankie… Eddie, what are you doing here?" Zach's gaze turned to Eddie, and the look on his face changed slightly, from one of surprise to one of jealousy, and maybe even anger. She sighed. It didn't help matters when Eddie smiled and leaned against the doorframe cockily.

"Well better question, I think, is what are YOU doing here, Zach?" Frankie sighed, touching her fingertips to her forehead. "I mean, it's pretty late for you to be coming over to Frankie's, isn't it?"

"Eddie was just helping me out," Frankie blurted out, just to stop Eddie from being stupid. The two of them looked at her, Zach with confusion, Eddie clearly amused, and she quickly continued. "Um, I mean, I'm throwing a surprise engagement party for Jane and Charlie, and Eddie agreed to help me out with planning it."

"Oh… so you guys are just… planning a party," Zach repeated stupidly. Eddie's smug smile went from Zach to Frankie, then back again, and Frankie had the urge to smack that annoying grin right off his face.

"Yeah… thanks again for doing this, Frankie… I really appreciate it." Eddie leaned closer to her as he said this, putting a hand on her arm. She glared at him as he leaned close and kissed her cheek, trying to ignore the way it made her heart pound harder than before and her breath lodge in her throat. She leaned away from him before he pulled himself away, and smiled at the still-shocked Zach.

"Zach… c'mon in, won't you? Eddie was just leaving."

Eddie watched as Frankie reached out and grabbed Zach's hand, pulling him into the apartment. His face lit up, and she sighed inwardly when she realized that this would undo weeks of ignoring him and trying to force him to take the hint… but it was worth it just to bring Eddie down a few notches. She swiftly pulled Zach into the apartment and pushed Eddie out of it, giving him a sweet smile as she closed the door in his face.

* * *

**A/N: **Yay reviewers! Much thanks to **Marshie12, k8bob8, xXx-dee-xXx, **and **fictitious character**! I'm so glad you're all enjoying it, and that you enjoyed the addition of the Wickham-ish character... hehe. Hope you guys like this chapter! Don't forget to review! Thanks guys!


	5. Let Go

_drink up, baby down  
are you in or are you out  
leave your things behind  
'cause it's all going off without you  
excuse me, too busy, you're writing your tragedy  
these mishaps  
you bubble wrap  
when you've no idea what you're like _

so let go, let go, jump in  
oh well, whatcha waiting for  
it's alright  
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown…

_-Frou Frou, "Let Go"_

**CHAPTER FIVE**

I had a boyfriend a few years back who tried to turn me against Frankie. I put up with it for a few weeks, just because I was so head over heels for him that I didn't realize that that was what he was doing.

He tried to convince me that Frankie was a total bitch who didn't care about anything or anyone. What he didn't realize is that I know everything about Frankie – all the good things and all the bad things. Did he think he was surprising me by revealing that Frankie wasn't perfect? But here's the thing – I'm well aware of all Frankie's faults, and she's STILL my best friend. I STILL love her like my sister, just like how she sees all my faults and loves me just the same too. People have tried multiple times to destroy our friendship, because they have that same opinion that Frankie is a bitch. No one knows all the great things about Frankie, because she doesn't let anybody in to see the real her.

That's why it was so easy for that bitch Gabriella Wicks to manipulate what Eddie thought of Frankie – just like she did 10 years ago.

Sorry, Mom… but it had to be said.

* * *

Frankie closed the door to her apartment the rest of the way and froze, squeezing her eyes closed in the hope that when she opened them again, Zach Collins wouldn't be standing behind her in her apartment by her own invitation. She heard him clear his throat and she sighed, slowly turning around.

"So… Zach… what are you doing here?"

Zach shifted from foot to foot awkwardly. "Well, I've been calling you but you haven't called me back, so I thought I'd stop by and talk to you just in case you haven't gotten my messages… did you get my messages?" He looked at her with hope and Frankie's stomach churned.

"Yes… yeah, I got your messages, Zach." She couldn't lie to him – not about that, anyway. "I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you, I've just been… um, busy… I've been busy."

"Oh. Okay. Well, um, the reason I was calling you was, well… um…"

Frankie looked away. It was like watching a car wreck – she couldn't watch, especially knowing what she would say to him as soon as he finally spit it out.

"Zach…"

"…IwashopingmaybesometimeyouandIcouldgooutfordinnerordrinksorsomething," Zach finally blurted out without taking a breath. Frankie sighed. How was she supposed to respond to that? If only he'd gotten the hint…

"Well… Zach, that's really nice of you to ask, but the thing is, I don't really date." She ventured a look at Zach, seeing a completely crestfallen expression on his face.

"Oh," he said quietly. Frankie continued.

"No really, Zach, I'm serious… I haven't dated anyone since college. I'm just so focused on my career that I really don't have time to cultivate a real relationship with anyone." She was so intent on convincing him that it wasn't his fault that she just kept talking. "And I didn't want to explain that to you, because it's a little bit embarrassing, and people think that I'm a freak for not wanting to date, but I just don't think it's right for me. So that's why I didn't return any of your calls, hoping you would get the hint that I wasn't interested…" She trailed off when she realized how that came off. Zach looked down at his hands and she winced, inwardly yelling at herself. "Not that I'm not interested in YOU-"

"Save it, Frankie," he said. He spun on his heel and left the apartment in a hurry without giving her another glance.

* * *

Eddie tapped his foot nervously under the table. Above the table, his right hand was flipping his fork over again and again while the fingers on his left hand drummed on the tabletop, occasionally stopping to run through his hair. He sighed and looked around the restaurant yet again, but when he saw no sign of Gabriella, he resumed his fidgeting.

He had called her a few days before to set their dinner date, and was immensely relieved when she had picked this restaurant – a family-owned Italian place in his neighborhood that he loved. He'd been worried that she would pick some stuffy, highbrow place where he'd have to wear a jacket and tie and devote half of his paycheck just to cover their meal. _The kind of place Frankie would like._

He frowned. Where had that thought come from? He wasn't sure… but now he was thinking about Frankie, much as he tried to re-focus on Gabriella. He thought unwillingly about the other night in her apartment, when she would blush and get flustered every time he came near her. A smile played across his lips without him realizing it. She liked to act so tough, like no one could touch her – but it would seem that he could.

"Penny for your thoughts," the feminine voice jolted him out of his reverie. He looked up and saw Gabriella standing next to the table and smiling down at him. Her curls were tumbling down over her shoulders, which were bare in her black satin halter top. He cleared his throat.

"Funny… can't remember what I was just thinking about."

Gabriella giggled and kissed his cheek before sitting down across from him, giving him a clear view of her long, tan legs as they crossed daintily at her ankles. "You look pretty nice, all cleaned up like that."

He smiled. "Thanks… you don't look half bad yourself."

She smiled back. They made small talk for the first half hour of their dinner, talking about everything from the weather to their respective jobs.

"So you just moved back to Chicago?" Eddie asked over their appetizers. Gabriella nodded.

"Yeah… I moved with my parents to Boston when I was 17, and I went to college out there, and now my company transferred me to the Chicago office, so I'm back."

"Do you have many friends or family here?"

She shook her head. "Nope. What about you? Where are you from?"

"Here. I've always lived in Chicago. My dad owns the Bennett construction business, and my brother and I work there."

"Ahh yes, Bennett Construction. I hear they do good work there." They smiled at each other for a moment before she continued. "So how is your brother doing?"

"Good, he's doing good… he's a little nervous for Christmas, because we're going to be spending it with his fiancée's family, and he wants to make a good impression and all that."

Gabriella's face lit up. "Aww, I didn't know Charlie was engaged! That's so great!"

"Yeah, he seems to think so."

"What's her name?"

"Jane Bell."

Gabriella's eyes widened. "No way."

Eddie chuckled. "I take it you know her?"

"Yeah, we went to high school together. Actually, we were pretty good friends before I moved… blonde hair, blue eyes, sweet disposition?"

Eddie nodded with a chuckle. "Yep. That's Jane."

"Wow. What a coincidence. I haven't seen her for over 10 years."

Eddie took another bite as the conversation dipped into a lull. In an effort to save it, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"So you must know Frankie Darcy too then." Eddie practically groaned out loud. He was having such a good time with Gabriella, why the hell was Frankie still on his mind? Gabriella's eyes widened again.

"Oh wow, Frankie and Jane… they're still best friends?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well that shouldn't surprise me, they were inseparable in high school."

Eddie nodded. "Still are." He took another bite and chewed. "You should hang out with us sometime. You could see Frankie and Jane, reminisce. That's always fun. Actually, Frankie and I are planning a surprise engagement party for Charlie and Jane. You should come, I can get you on the invite list."

Gabriella smiled at him. "That's really sweet of you, Eddie, but um… I don't think Jane and Frankie would really want to see me."

Eddie frowned. "What? Why not?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I dunno… it's kind of a long, very high-school-drama story…you sure you want to hear it?"

"Sure. Lay it on me."

"Alright, well… our sophomore year of high school, Frankie dated this guy for a couple months. They broke up, and about 3 or 4 months later, her ex asked me out. I went to her first and I asked if it was okay, if she didn't mind, and she said she was totally fine with it, because she was never that serious about him anyway. So we dated, and then a couple weeks later I went to a dance with him, and she saw us there and just totally flipped out. She started ranting about how could I do this to her, she denied that she had ever given me permission to go out with him… anyway, she stormed out of the dance in a huff. Everyone saw it, and of course, the next day at school, rumors were flying. I tried to stop them, I told everyone that it was just a misunderstanding… but the thing about Frankie is that people are just looking for an excuse to call her a bitch. Everyone kind of already thinks it, so if something happens… well, it's the first assumption people jump to." Gabriella shrugged, and Eddie just sat there, stunned. "So that's why I'm not sure that Frankie, or her best friend Jane, would really want to see me. It wasn't too long after that whole fiasco that we moved, and things were never really resolved between us."

"Wow," Eddie muttered, leaning back in his chair. It was the only thing he could think of to say. "I mean… wow. I had no idea… but I guess it kinda fits, with what I know of Frankie anyway." He shook his head, feeling a sense of anger welling up in his stomach when he looked at this beautiful girl and thought about what Frankie had done to her. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen her cold-heartedness before.

"Well, enough of that," Gabriella said, her beautiful smile gracing her face again. "It's all in the past anyway, right?"

"Right," Eddie replied, smiling as well. He reached across the table and touched her hand. "Let's focus on the present."

* * *

"Hey girls, come on in," Frankie greeted her friends after opening the door of her apartment. Jane, Carly and Rachel's faces smiled back at her as they made their way inside. They were having another girls' night, this one in celebration of Jane being promoted at her publishing firm. The girls followed Frankie in, carrying bottles of champagne and a couple of pizzas.

"Mmm champagne and pizza… nice," Frankie said with a laugh. Jane rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry we can't all be as classy as you, Francesca Darcy, but hey, this is my night. I picked out the food."

Frankie giggled. "Well all hail Princess Jane," she said with a cheesy bow. Jane swatted her on the arm as the rest of the girls made themselves comfortable in Frankie's living room.

"Man… first she gets engaged, now she gets a promotion," Carly said, shaking her head. "Some girls get all the luck." She took a huge bite of her pizza.

"No kidding… we can't all marry guys like Charlie Bennett," Rachel said. Jane frowned.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that he's more put together than every guy I've ever dated. He's cute, he's sweet, he has his own business… hell, he has a JOB…" Jane laughed at Carly.

"Charlie is great, and I love him, but he's not some sort of saint. He's got his faults too."

"Like what?"

"Well… like…" Jane drifted off, but when she remained silent after a few moments the rest of the girls laughed. Jane made a face. "Okay, I can't think of anything right now, but I'm still in the pre-marital bliss. Ask me again 3 months after the wedding."

"Y'know what I think?" Rachel interrupted loudly. "Screw guys. That's what I think. Who needs 'em? I mean seriously… even to reproduce. Haven't people heard of invitro? I mean, come on, it's the 21st century here!"

"Now there is a girl who has some sense," Frankie said, laughing and pointing to Rachel. Rachel pointed back.

"Solidarity, sister."

"Hey now wait, no guy bashing," Jane said. "I happen to be very happy with my guy, thank you very much."

"So? Why does that mean we can't guy bash?" Frankie asked. "It happens to be one of my favorite pastimes."

Jane got a mischievous look on her face as she looked back at her best friend. "Well why don't we focus your considerable guy-bashing skills on one guy in particular, instead of mankind in general?"

"Oh really? And who'd you have in mind?" Frankie asked coolly. She knew perfectly well who Jane had in mind, but she'd be damned if she let her best friend see anything but a cool, controlled exterior when it came to discussion of Eddie Bennett.

"Hmm, I don't know, what about… Eddie Bennett?"

"Eddie Bennett?" Carly asked incredulously. She laughed. "Please tell me you two haven't been in the same room recently. Wait, no, you must not have been, because if you had the world would've imploded."

"Actually they were in the same room. And more than that, they flirted for the entire evening."

Carly and Rachel's mouths dropped open. Frankie scowled at Jane. _So much for a cool exterior._

"You have such a big mouth," she muttered… but Jane wasn't done yet.

"And, get this… Frankie let Eddie…" She paused for dramatic effect. "…get her DRUNK." The girls gasped audibly, and Frankie rolled her eyes.

"He did not GET ME drunk, I got myself drunk. It wasn't like he was pouring tequila down my throat," Frankie tried to defend herself, but the two girls continued to gape at her.

"No… way…" Rachel said slowly.

"Oh yeah. Totally true, guys," Jane said, nodding vigorously. "Charlie and I forced the two of them to go out to dinner with us so we could make them get along… and they got along, all right."

"Please ignore her, guys. Jane has a way overactive imagination. She's a writer, remember? Comes with the territory," Frankie tried desperately to convince her friends, but it was too late – Rachel and Carly had turned their attention fully onto Jane.

"So what kind of flirting was it? Like, giggles and tossing hair? Serious, intense looks? Witty banter?" Rachel asked.

"What do you think?" Jane asked.

"Definitely not giggly," Carly said. "I'm guessing the witty banter."

"Bingo. It was like Charlie and I no longer existed – the two of them were totally going at it."

"Okay, can you guys please stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Frankie asked, irritated. Jane turned to her best friend, folding her legs in front of her.

"Truth time?" she asked.

"Um… sure…" Frankie replied slowly.

"No really, I mean TRUTH time. No lies, no pretending, no denial… we're all your good friends here, it's okay to tell us how you really feel, okay? In fact, it's even BETTER than okay. We WANT you to tell us how you really feel. Okay?"

"Alright, fine," Frankie agreed grudgingly.

"How do you feel about Eddie?"

She sighed. She knew it was coming, and of course her first instinct was to continue insisting that she felt nothing for him… but if she was being completely honest with herself, she knew that wasn't the truth.

Intellectually, she knew that he was everything she didn't want in a boyfriend. Even more than that, she didn't want a relationship period, with anyone. Relationships were work, heartache, and most often not worth it. She had been focusing on her career for the past 3 years and it hadn't let her down yet… why should she abandon a lifestyle that has worked so well for her? She had always thought of herself as one of those people who was just better off alone. It wasn't a bad thing, it didn't make her sad… it was just there, just… true.

But then she met Eddie. And all of a sudden, this guy, this irritating jerk, was making her heart pound faster, making butterflies grow in her stomach, making her breath lodge in her throat, and the most infuriating thing about it was that she had no idea why. It was clear that she was attracted to him, but that attraction defied all logic and reason.

She looked up. The girls were all looking at her expectantly. She took a sip from the glass of champagne that had somehow materialized in her hand, her mouth going completely dry.

"Okay, here's the thing…" she started after she'd swallowed. "I don't know what I feel for Eddie. I know that he can make me so angry I literally see red… he's obnoxious, he's completely tactless, he's basically the exact opposite of me…" She looked down. She didn't want to see their faces when she admitted her attraction. "But then, when I'm around him, I get butterflies, and my palms sweat, and my heart pounds, and then he gets close to me and I can smell him, and he smells like soap and aftershave, and… he's just so, so very broad, and strong, and…" She stopped her rambling, squeezing her eyes closed. "I'm attracted to him, I admit it. But the thing is, I don't want to be. And not just because of all those things that make me so mad about him, but just because… because I don't want to be attracted to ANYONE. It's too complicated, too unpredictable and uncontrollable, and I don't LIKE that." She finally stopped talking, and the room remained silent for a few moments.

"Wow," Jane said. Frankie finally brought herself to look at her friends, seeing that they were all wearing similar expressions of pure disbelief. Jane continued. "Frankie… did you ever think that this attraction you have to him is some sort of sign? Don't you think you should trust your emotions and your gut and not your preconceived notions of what your life is supposed to be?"

"But these emotions make no sense, Jane," Frankie said emphatically. "It makes no sense. Why should I change my life just for a few little butterflies? I like my life. I like having this apartment to myself, I like cooking dinner for one, I like being able to make my own choices."

"Why do you think that will change?" Carly asked. "Just because you admit that you're attracted to him, that doesn't mean you have to change who you are."

"But it does! Because who I am has always revolved around the fact that I don't need anyone to be happy."

"Why is that a good thing? You can be independent and be in a relationship, you know. And besides, you may be happy now, but did you ever think that maybe you could be happier?" Rachel pointed out. Frankie bit her lip, surprised at the thoughts that were running through her own head. She shook her head, attempting to shake herself out of it.

"No. It doesn't matter anyway, because Eddie hates me, so what's the point in even thinking about this?"

"Eddie does not hate you," Jane said. "He was flirting with you just as much as you were with him. Did it ever occur to you that this attraction might go both ways?"

Frankie didn't know how to respond to that. It was a few minutes before her next question came out, barely audible by her friends.

"So what should I do about it?"

Jane broke out into huge beaming grin. "Tell him," she insisted. Frankie paled. "No seriously, Frankie, tell him. Ask him out."

"Actually that's a really good idea," Rachel chimed in. "Eddie is used to women falling at his feet, used to being the one in the driver's seat, but if you're the one who asks him out… it would set you apart. I think he'd really dig it," she finished with a definitive nod. Frankie gulped, feeling like she was about to throw up.

"Really?" she asked meekly. All three girls nodded.

"Do it, Frankie," Carly said. "Even if he says no, or whatever… at least you tried, right?"

"Right! And if he does say no, so what? That's his loss. You're an independent woman, so you can go back to your life and be just as happy as you were before."

Frankie sat up straighter, setting her shoulders. "You're right," she said, her voice louder and more confident than it'd been a few minutes before. "I AM a confident, independent woman. Why shouldn't I go after what I want?"

"Exactly!"

"Anybody else have the urge to listen to 'I'm Every Woman'?" Rachel asked. The four of them laughed.

"Another round of champagne!"

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading guys! it was just pointed out to me that I'm not supposed to respond to people here, so I'll just say thanks and keep reading and reviewing:)


	6. Careful

_But you can't hide standing under these stars  
they know everything they know where you are  
you're in your head, you're all turned around with it  
and they're shining down their light to bring you back again _

Back where I can find you to crawl inside you

I'm ringing all the warning bells  
careful or you'll hurt yourself…

_-Guster, "Careful"_

**CHAPTER SIX**

I couldn't believe Frankie had actually taken our advice. I mean yeah, sure, I wanted her to take it, otherwise why would I have given it? But the fact that she actually decided to act on it, and she actually asked Eddie Bennett out? It just makes my respect for her grow, especially considering what happened that night.

* * *

Frankie stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom, her hands nervously flitting from her hair, to rub off a smudge in her makeup, then to smooth out an imaginary wrinkle in her shirt. She had spent the entire afternoon agonizing in her closet, and had finally decided on jeans and a black fitted shirt with her favorite brown sweater wrapped around.

Good outfit for asking out a guy, right?

At least, for asking Eddie Bennett out. It wasn't too stuffy or pretentious, and it was comfortable, which was always a plus. She smoothed down her hair, the auburn locks hanging straight down her back. Her heart was beating like crazy. She couldn't believe she was actually going to do it.

_I am totally, completely, certifiably insane._

The buzzer sounded, and her heart leapt up into her throat. A glance at her watch showed her that he was early. She hurried to the buzzer, attempting to compose herself before answering.

"Hello?"

"It's me," Eddie's voice crackled through the speaker. Her heart started beating faster – she hadn't even thought that was possible.

"C'mon up." She pressed the button to let him up before turning and looking around the apartment. She'd asked him to come over in order to go over a few last-minute preparations for the party, but that wasn't really why. She had it all planned out in her head, and if it all went according to plan… well, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

A knock sounded at the door next to her, and she jumped about a mile in the air. She looked at the ceiling and composed herself before swinging the door open.

There he was. Standing in the hallway, looking almost exactly the same as the last time he'd come to her apartment for party-planning. His eyes met hers.

"Hey," she said, her voice coming out breathless.

"Hi," he replied. "You gonna let me in or what?"

"Right, sorry, come on in." She backed away and he brushed past her and walked into the living room.

"Do you mind if we make this quick?" he asked. She frowned at his back. "I have a couple of things I have to get done tonight."

"Right… of course," Frankie mumbled. She cleared her throat. "Um, the truth is… I don't really have any preparations I need your help with." She saw his back stiffen and he turned around, a confused look on his face.

"So… why did you ask me to come here?"

She gulped. It wasn't going according to her plan.

"We'll get to that." She smiled at him, though she knew her smile was tense. She offered him a glass of wine that she'd already poured. "Wine?"

"Uh… sure, I guess," he said, taking the wine from her. Frankie ran her fingers through her hair nervously.

"Um… do you want to see my balcony?" she blurted out. She inwardly winced. It was supposed to be smoother than that.

"Sure…" he replied slowly. He followed her through the dining room and out onto her balcony. "Wow," she heard him murmur.

"Yeah, most people have that reaction when they see this," she said. The two of them stood by the railing, looking over the beautiful view of the lake. The moon was out, and it, along with the starry night sky, was reflected on the surface of the water. Frankie shifted from foot to foot nervously, taking a sip from her own wine glass.

"Listen… the reason that I asked you here tonight, was… um…" She got distracted when Eddie turned his attention from the lake back to her. Why was it that now that she had admitted to herself what she felt about him, he suddenly became irresistible to her? She tried to remind herself of all the things that she didn't like about him, but it didn't work. She looked up at him, and suddenly all the words that she had rehearsed over and over flew out of her head.

"So, the thing is, you're totally wrong for me," she blurted out. "You're rude, you're crass, you're a womanizer, your idea of culture is going to a pro football game, and you drink beer. You're everything that I never thought I wanted." She paused, unable to read the expression on his face. "But the thing is, I'm attracted to you. I don't know why, but I'm just… I'm really attracted to you. And I was sort of wondering if maybe…" She took a deep breath. "If maybe you'd want to go out. Like, to dinner or something. With me. Like, on a date." She forced herself to stop talking. They stood there in agonizing silence for what seemed like an eternity before Eddie started laughing. It started as a slow chuckle, quickly escalating into full blown, throw-your-head back laughter. Frankie felt her stomach sink.

"Am I on candid camera right now?" Eddie asked through his laughter, making a big show of looking around. "Seriously, this is the best joke I think I've ever heard."

"Wh… what?"

His laughter stopped and looked back at the lake, shaking his head, then looked back at her, and this time she recognized the anger in his eyes.

"You honestly think that I'd want to go out with you?" he asked. "You have showed me nothing since I've met you except how bitchy and cold-hearted you can be."

Frankie's jaw dropped open. "What? When? What are you talking about?"

"Okay. Exhibit A." He held up one finger. "You were a complete bitch to Zach. You lead him on, then you ignored his calls and broke his heart without a smidge of guilt." She opened her mouth to defend herself, but he just kept talking. "Exhibit B, you have done nothing but look down on me since the moment I met you. Even now, when you ask me out, you do it by insulting me first! And that's supposed to make me want to go out with you?" He laughed out loud, a callous laugh that she never thought she'd hear coming from him. "And lastly, Exhibit C… do you really think that I would date someone who was such a bitch to one of her closest friends?"

Frankie frowned. "Who?"

"Gabriella Wicks."

Frankie's jaw dropped open again.

"Gabriella Wicks?" she asked incredulously. He just nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. She felt the anger building up in her stomach. "Gabriella Wicks," she repeated, her voice coming out in almost a snarl. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.

"Yes. Gabriella Wicks. She told me about how she was such good friends with you, and how you totally did a 360 on her, even when she was trying to help you."

Frankie crossed her arms over her chest, not bothering to correct him. "Well if you think I'm such a bitch, then maybe it's better if you just leave," she said, her tone flat. She would not let him see how he'd gotten to her.

"I think that's the best idea I've heard from you yet." He turned around and stalked out of the apartment. Frankie waited until she heard the door to her apartment slam closed behind him before wrapping her sweater tightly around her chest and leaning back against the railing.

* * *

"Ms. Darcy?" Frankie looked up to see her secretary standing in front of her desk. When had she gotten there? She sat up straighter in her desk chair.

"Oh, sorry… um… what?" Lisa had a concerned look on her face.

"Mr. Portman is on line 3." Frankie frowned.

"Mr. Portman…?"

"Mr. Portman… from Portman & Keller…" Frankie's eyes widened.

"Oh! God, oh, yeah, right, thanks Lisa." She picked up the phone.

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… Frankie? Frankie Darcy?"

Eddie nodded, looking at his brother's stunned expression.

"Frankie actually asked you out?"

"Yeah, she did."

Silence.

"Well what did you say?"

Eddie looked at him in disbelief. "What do you think I said? I said no, of course. She asked me out by insulting me. Why the hell would I say yes to that?"

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, Eddie, you can be so completely dense."

* * *

"You better damn well let me up, Francesca Darcy," Jane's voice came up through the speaker. Frankie sighed, leaning her forehead against the wall next to the intercom. She was a total wreck – she'd had the worst day she'd ever had at work, and now she was dressed in pajama pants and an old, smelly t-shirt, eating ice cream and trying to forget about how horrible the day had been. She loved Jane to death, but the last thing she needed right now was company.

"I'm serious, Frankie, you haven't answered any of my calls… I'm dying here!" Jane's voice continued to crackle through the speaker. Frankie reached up and fumbled for the button, hearing the buzz as she let her in before stumbling back over to the couch where she'd made her nest. She had just picked up her carton of ice cream again when she heard Jane let herself in.

"Holy crap," Jane said as soon as she rounded the corner into the living room. "This cannot be good. I came to find out what happened with Eddie… but clearly this is not good news. What the hell happened?"

Frankie rolled her eyes, shoving another bite of ice cream into her mouth. "I was an idiot," she replied. "And you were an idiot for talking me into doing that."

"What happened?" Jane repeated.

"I did it. I asked him out. But I did it totally wrong, I didn't…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "See, this is why I don't like doing things that I have no control over. Cuz I had no control over what I was saying, and I shoved my foot so far into my mouth…"

"What did you say?"

"A lot of stuff that doesn't need repeating."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Okay fine, then what did he say?"

"Well he had quite the little bits of evidence to prove his point," she said bitterly.

"What?"

"His rejection was 3-fold," Frankie started. Jane's eyes widened. "I am a bitch, apparently. A cold-hearted bitch. For 3 reasons. One, I was a bitch to Zach Collins, who lead him on and then callously broke his heart. Two, I was a total bitch to him, even when I was trying to ask him out, and lastly…" She paused, the anger welling up in her stomach again just thinking about it. "…I was a bitch to Gabriella Wicks."

"Gabriella Wicks?" Jane asked incredulously, sounding exactly as Frankie had the night before. Frankie nodded. "What the fuck does Gabriella Wicks have to do with this?"

"I have no idea. I don't know how he knows her or what…" Frankie shook her head. "All he said was that she told him about how the two of us were 'such good friends' and I did a total 360 on her and was a total bitch to her, even when she was trying to 'help' me."

Jane's jaw dropped open. "You're not serious."

"Dead serious."

"Well what did you say to him? Did you tell him about how ridiculously wrong he is?"

"What's the point? He's absolutely convinced that I'm a cold-hearted bitch. There was clearly no point in arguing with him."

Jane scoffed. "No way. C'mon, Frankie, you gotta tell him the truth."

"No, Jane."

"But if you did-"

"NO, Jane," Frankie said emphatically. "And you're not going to tell him either. As a matter of fact, you're not even going to tell Charlie, because then Charlie will tell Eddie, and… I just… don't tell him. Please," Frankie pleaded. Jane sighed, scrutinizing her.

"Alright, fine, if that's what you really want. I think you're making a mistake though."

"And that's your opinion, and you're entitled to that… but it's my life."

"Okay, I get it… I won't tell." The two of them sat there awkwardly for a moment, Frankie twirling her spoon in her melting ice cream.

"So… are you okay?" Jane finally asked.

"Not really," Frankie said, so softly it was almost a whisper. "It's not that I expected Eddie to just take me in his arms and kiss me or something, but… I didn't expect him to tear me apart like he did."

"Oh Frankie…" Jane sighed.

"And it sucks, because I didn't think I cared about what anyone thought of me, and now…" She let out a frustrated groan, slamming her ice cream down onto the side table next to her and burying her face underneath the blankets surrounding her. Jane just sighed again before reaching over and touching Frankie's hair.

"Oh Frankie…"

Suddenly something snapped inside Frankie, and she popped up out of the blankets and stood there. "Look at me! Look at what I've been reduced to!" she said, grabbing at her clothes and her hair as if she hadn't dressed herself and someone else had broken into her apartment and forced her to be depressed. "This is totally ridiculous. I've known the guy for all of, what, a month? The majority of which I hated him? This is stupid." She started to pace across the room, Jane watching her, back and forth. "I am Frankie Darcy. I am beautiful, successful, and confident. I don't need some guy. This is crap. I've had enough of this feeling-sorry-for-myself crap, and it all stops right now."

"Good. That's the spirit," Jane said weakly.

She didn't believe a word Frankie said.

* * *

Frankie unbuttoned the top button of her blouse as she walked into the grocery store, anxious to pick up the few things she needed and head home. Today hadn't been much better than yesterday – she was distracted and cranky the whole time, and even though she had promised herself she would snap out of it, all she wanted to do was get home and change into her PJs. But her fridge was empty, and she supposed she needed something other than ice cream. She made her way through the produce, picking up a couple of random items, then turned into frozen foods. She was looking at the Lean Cuisine frozen dinners when she saw them.

Eddie Bennett and Gabriella Wicks, giggling and picking up a bag of chicken at the other end of the aisle.

She just stood there, staring at them, unable to bring herself to move or hide or even look away. She watched as Eddie dropped the chicken into the cart in front of him, watched as Gabriella touching his arm…

Watched as the two of them started strolling towards her.

She snapped out of it about two seconds before they were going to see her, spinning on her heel and abandoning her cart in the middle of the aisle in her hurry to run out of the store.

* * *

"Try that," Gabriella said, holding out a spoonful of her homemade guacamole. She fed it to Eddie. The two of them were standing in her kitchen cooking dinner together, though it was really Gabriella cooking and giving Eddie little jobs to keep him occupied, since he couldn't cook to save his life. It was their third date in a week and a half.

"Wow, that's great," Eddie said through the food in his mouth. Gabriella giggled.

"Thanks. How's that chicken coming?"

Eddie looked down at the pot of chicken he was supposedly "cooking." "Um… still looks pink."

Gabriella came over and looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, you're right. Give it another three minutes or so." She walked back over to the cutting board and started dicing tomatoes. He watched her for a minute, a smile spreading his lips. She was really beautiful.

"Hey," he said, getting her attention. She smiled up at him.

"Yes?"

"So… I have a friend that's getting married next weekend… would you want to come with me to the wedding?"

She didn't answer right away. "A friend, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, my friend Lance… a friend of mine and my brother's, actually." He was getting a bit nervous – the look on Gabriella's face was less than thrilled.

"Um… are Frankie and Jane going to be there?" she asked. Eddie's brow furrowed.

"Yeah, actually… why?"

Gabriella put down her knife and looked over at him. "I would love to go with you Eddie, really… but I probably shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Well, there's just so many unresolved issues between Frankie and Jane and me, and I know it's going to be really awkward and tense when I see them again, and I don't want to ruin your friend's wedding."

Eddie sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. "It sucks, though… you're so great, and I want to spend more time with you… and now I can't because of Frankie Darcy?"

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "We'll do something else… something way better than a boring wedding." She kissed him, and he grinned.

"I like the sound of that."

* * *

Frankie didn't let herself slow down until she got into her apartment and the door closed behind her. She dropped her briefcase and purse onto the floor and leaned against the door behind her, slowly slumping down. She dug her fingers into her hair and squeezed her eyes closed.

She groaned. That was a mistake – all she could see when she closed her eyes was images of Gabriella and Eddie, laughing, buying groceries like they were friggin' married or something.

The control was gone. Completely gone. She couldn't even control her own thoughts anymore. It was a mistake, she'd opened up Pandora's Freakin' Box, and now there was nothing she could do, the emotions were practically seeping out of her.

* * *

**A:** Thanks guys! Don't forget to read and review! Also, a couple of you have told me that you went over to fictionpress to read the whole thing since it's already posted there, but I thought I'd let you guys know that I am editing before re-posting these chapters here... it hasn't had a big effect on the plot yet, but it will, starting in about two chapters. So please keep reading here on fanfiction and don't forget to review and let me know what you think of the changes! Thanks everybody!


	7. Why

_How many times do I have to try to tell you  
That I'm sorry for the things I've done  
But when I start to try to tell you  
That's when you have to tell me  
Hey... this kind of trouble's only just begun  
I tell myself too many times  
Why don't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut  
That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words  
That keep on falling from your mouth  
Falling from your mouth…  
Tell me...  
Why_

_-Annie Lennox, "Why"_

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

I love weddings. The family, the flowers, the food, the dancing, it's all a big celebration of love. It doesn't even matter if you don't know the bride and groom that well, or if you hate one or the other, because really the wedding isn't specific to them. Sure the actual ceremony mentions them by name, and their likenesses are atop the big cake, but weddings are really about celebrating love – all kinds of love. Which explains why I love weddings, because I am in love myself. I love going to weddings with my husband, dancing with him, sitting next to him holding hands.

It's not as felicitous an experience for other people, however. It's hard to enjoy a good wedding when you're not in love yourself. It's especially hard to enjoy when you've recently been burned in love, which Frankie had. Not only that, but the person who burned her was sitting just down the pew from her.

I don't blame her. If I were her, I would've been miserable too. I wish I could've been more help to her… but I was a little busy being wrapped up in my fiancée and taking notes for my own wedding.

But I think Frankie did okay on her own.

* * *

Frankie glared at the couple standing at the altar in front of the priest, her arms crossed over her deep red dress and sweater, her black Steve Madden-clad feet tapping anxiously.

This was so stupid. What the hell was he doing here anyway? She knew that he knew the bride and groom too, and they had invited him… but did he honestly have the gall to show his face, and sit 2 people down from her? Lance and Katie were HER friends. Eddie hadn't even met Lance until that party at Charlie's place, and of course he knew she was going to be here. She glared at his knee – the only part of him that she could see, since he was sitting on the other side of Jane and Charlie. After a few seconds she looked away disgustedly, looking back up at the priest and wondering when this thing was going to be over so she could get out of there.

"You're not going to be able to escape," Jane whispered in her ear. Frankie turned her glare on her best friend.

"How the hell do you do that? Do you have ESP or something?" she muttered under her breath. Jane ignored her.

"You know I'm right. It's rude to just leave after the ceremony when you've already RSVPed for the reception. They planned on you being there, so you have to be there."

Frankie's shoulders slumped. She knew Jane was right, and she didn't want to be rude to Lance and Katie – they were her friends, after all.

The ceremony crept by, and when it was finally over, Frankie mechanically stood and applauded with everyone else. She had expected to be relieved when the ceremony was finally over, but she wasn't. _Well… maybe I can avoid Eddie for most of the reception. There will be lots of people there, I'm sure it will be easy to avoid him._

She rode with Charlie and Jane to the reception, and her hopes were dashed when she realized that there was a planned seating chart, putting her at the same table with Jane, Charlie… and Eddie. Along with a couple of other people she didn't know, and didn't care to meet and schmooze with as Jane was doing. She looked down at the napkin on her plate when she saw that Eddie had arrived and was walking up to their table, and tried her best to ignore him as he introduced himself to the rest of the people at the table. Charlie clapped his brother on the back as he sat next to him, and Frankie tried her best to look away.

"Some reception, huh?" Charlie said. Eddie nodded.

"Pretty fancy," he replied. Frankie was caught off guard when Eddie looked straight at her. "Right up your alley, right Frankie?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. She had been perfectly content to pretend like he wasn't even there, and she'd hoped he would reciprocate the same courtesy… but apparently courtesy was too much to expect from Eddie Bennett.

"So how come you didn't bring Gabriella with you?" Charlie piped in before Frankie could say anything. He had clearly thought he was helping by changing the subject to Gabriella, which definitely wasn't the case. The tension at the table doubled, though Frankie was comforted by the fact that at least Jane had done what she said she would do and not told Charlie the truth about Gabriella. Eddie glared at Frankie, but she looked away, while Jane looked at the ceiling like she was praying for divine intervention.

"I asked her, but she said no," he replied. Frankie glared right back at him.

"Pity," she said dryly. Eddie leaned forward onto his elbows.

"She didn't want to come because she knew certain people were going to be here, and she knew how catty and… oh, what's the word… cold-hearted-" He looked at her pointedly. "-these same people can be, and she chose not to force them to ruin a happy situation because they wouldn't be able to keep their rampant bitchiness in check."

Frankie swallowed a snappy retort about how if he wanted to know bitchiness he should ask Gabriella, while Jane looked stunned. She turned towards Frankie.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about him tearing you apart," she said under her breath so that Eddie couldn't hear her. Frankie stood up abruptly.

"I have to go to the ladies' room," she announced before stalking away from the table. She left the table in silence and fumed all the way to the bathroom, slamming the door open and leaning against the sink. She stood there for a few minutes, attempting, it would seem fruitlessly, to collect herself. She took a few deep breaths, splashed some water on the back of her neck, then straightened up and walked back to the table, determined to stay dignified. When she sat back down everyone was talking about the wedding, except for Eddie, who was sitting in his chair with his arms crossed and looking very similar to what she imagined she looked like – pissed off and very unhappy to be there.

"So uh, Frankie…" Charlie started. "Jane tells me that since we're going to be with her family for the holidays, we'll probably be with your family for a lot of it too."

Frankie managed a weak smile for the man her best friend loved. "Yeah, probably… our moms are still best friends and we usually get together a lot over the holidays." She heard Eddie emit what sounded like a low groan, but she chose to ignore him.

"So what's your family like? You have siblings?" Charlie asked.

"My mom and me, and my little sister Grace, she's 20," Frankie answered.

"Oh yeah? What does she do?"

"She's in college, at Northwestern. Her major has changed a lot, but right now I think it's English."

"That's cool. What about your mom? What does she do?"

"She's a secretary for a law firm."

"Cool." The table fell into silence, and Frankie realized that she wasn't holding up her end of the conversation.

"So what about your family?" she asked politely.

"Oh, well, I have… well, Eddie and I have, that is…" She didn't look at him. "…two sisters, Maggie and Kelly. Maggie's still in high school, and Kelly is 20 as well, she works for a temp agency."

"And your parents… well, your father owns the construction company, of course, but what does your mom do?"

"She's a stay at home mom."

"Oh wow, good for her. That's an admirable job. Especially with difficult children." The little devil was sitting on her shoulder – she couldn't help herself. Eddie's attention snapped up to her.

"So I suppose that was directed at me?" he asked. He nodded. "Nice."

"Excuse me, Mr. Egotistical, I don't believe I was talking about you. I believe I was talking about your mother." She turned back to Charlie. "Really, very admirable woman."

"Y'know, if you're gonna be a bitch, you could at least do it to my face instead of doing it through my mother. That's low, Frankie, even for you."

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you liked your women bitchy and mean. But I'm confused, you are dating Gabriella Wicks, aren't you?" Frankie regretted the words the instant they left her mouth. They were in a public place, her sense of propriety had completely flown out the window… but it was almost worth it just to see how red Eddie's face got after she said that.

"Enough!" Jane finally snapped. Frankie looked up, seeing the rest of the table looking at them with their jaws dropped. "Jesus Christ… I thought you two could handle a public setting, but clearly you've reverted back to 6 years old without telling us. Can you guys please just freakin' COOL IT?"

Frankie sat back, her arms crossed over her chest. "He started it," she muttered, unable to help herself. Maybe she really had reverted back to childhood.

"Oh yeah, that's real mature," Eddie said sarcastically. "Who's the bitch now?"

"Um, you?" Frankie replied quickly.

"ENOUGH!" Jane yelled again. Now people from OTHER tables were starting to stare. "Both of you, stop! My god!" The table fell into another silence that was awkward at best, which wasn't broken until a few minutes later when Charlie cleared his throat.

"So… what's everyone having for dinner?"

* * *

Two hours later Frankie was still sitting at the table, against her will. She'd wanted to bolt as soon as dinner was over, but Jane wouldn't let her, and she and Charlie were her ride, so she didn't have a lot of options. She was currently sitting at the table alone, cheek in one hand, drinking from her second glass of champagne. Jane and Charlie had abandoned her as soon as the dancing started, and once their presence as a buffer was gone, Eddie had bolted too. She could see him now, dancing with some woman, though she was trying her hardest not to look. She took another gulp of champagne, draining the glass.

"More champagne?" a waiter asked, appearing at her elbow.

"Oh, uh…" _Two drink rule, TWO DRINK RULE!_ Her brain screamed. She smiled. She didn't care. In a situation like this, a better rule was "The More Alcohol, the Better."

"Yes, thank you." She handed him the empty glass and took the full one he offered her. She had downed half the glass before she noticed that Eddie had materialized in front of her. She choked on the drink in her mouth. Eddie smiled arrogantly.

"You got a little dribble," he said. Frankie narrowed her eyes and wiped at her chin.

"What do you want?"

Eddie rolled his eyes, putting his hands on his hips. As much as she tried to block the thought from her brain, she couldn't help thinking that he looked good. He was actually wearing a suit. It was a bit old and out of fashion, but it still looked good on him, the fabric of the shirt and jacket stretched across his shoulders.

"You wanna dance?"

Frankie stared at him.

She laughed, rubbing her ear.

"I'm sorry, I must be losing my hearing, I thought I heard you just ask me to dance," she said, laughing.

"I did."

She stared at him again.

"Why? Are you gonna dump pig's blood on me or something?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No… although that's not a bad idea…" he said. Frankie rolled her eyes. "You just looked so pathetic sitting over here by yourself, I just thought hey, what the hell, I'll give her a little thrill." She glared at him. She knew exactly what she should say – fuck off, go thrill yourself, you couldn't thrill me if you were a freakin rollercoaster, any one of those would've been fine.

"Fine," was what came out of her mouth. She couldn't even believe herself. She really couldn't believe it when she saw Eddie's hand extended in front of her. She took it, and the two of them walked out onto the dance floor. Jane caught her eye as the two of them were walking, a look on her face of total shock. All Frankie could do was shrug.

They reached the middle of the dance floor and Eddie turned around, pulling her close to him and wrapping an arm around her waist. Frankie's heart rammed into her chest. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to be this close to a guy, and the fact that it was Eddie… her attraction for him just increased, as much as it infuriated her. She tried to avoid looking him in the eye but it was pretty much unavoidable. His right hand was holding hers close to his chest, her other hand pressed flat against his back. She took a shaky breath.

"Does this throw you off?" Eddie asked. His words barely made it through the cloud around her head. She wrinkled her brow.

"What?"

Eddie was grinning at her again. "I've seen what kind of effect I have on you… especially when I get real close to you like this."

Frankie tried her best to maintain her disgusted expression as he leaned even closer to her and she could feel his breath on her face. "The only effect you have is on my gag reflex," she replied succinctly. Eddie just chuckled.

"See, normally, a comment like that might work. But now, you already asked me out, so clearly, there's something about Eddie Bennett that you like, much as you try to hide it."

Frankie swallowed hard. Not only had she lost control, but she had practically handed it to Eddie gift-wrapped.

"A momentary lapse in my sanity. Trust me, it won't happen again."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive."

"Even if I do this?" He wrapped the arm that had been holding her hand around her waist. She glared at him evenly.

"Still positive."

"What about this?" He pulled her closer so that now their bodies were flush with one another, his hands pressing against her lower back so that she could feel the heat of his skin through the thin fabric of her dress.

"Nothing."

"What if I kissed you?"

"What?" Frankie said quickly. Her heart started pounding, and she was convinced he could feel it too.

"What if I kissed you right now?" he said in a low voice. He reached one hand up and touched her cheek. "If I kissed you right now, would you still be able to pretend that you find me so repulsive?"

Frankie didn't answer – she couldn't. She had completely lost her power of speech. They stood there, still swaying back and forth to the music, for another minute before she could finally collect herself enough to say something.

"If you're so curious, then why don't you try?"

Her breath caught in her throat when she realized that he was actually leaning towards her. She was about to let herself get swept up in the moment when she realized what a golden opportunity it was to win back the control. He was mere inches from touching his lips to hers when she did it.

"On second thought… maybe not," she said before pushing him away. He stood there as she walked away, her hips swaying a bit more than normal.

* * *

"Hey, good morning," Charlie greeted Eddie as he walked into the Bennett Construction office Monday morning. Eddie grunted his greeting, walking straight for the coffee pot. Charlie got up from his desk. "So where did you disappear to at the wedding? Jane and I got back from dancing and you were gone." Eddie rolled his eyes.

"I had to get out of there, Frankie was driving me freaking nuts," he replied. Charlie leaned against the desk and casually crossed his arms over his chest, a knowing grin on his face.

"Really… cuz it looked like you guys were having a pretty good time out on the dance floor."

Eddie turned around and glared at his brother. "Shut up, and not another word about that," he said menacingly before taking a gulp of his coffee. He brushed past his brother on his way to desk, slowing down when he saw the plain white envelope with his name on it resting on top of the piles of paper. "What's this?" he asked, picking it up. Charlie shrugged and played dumb, but Eddie didn't buy it. "Oh come on, Charlie, you think I don't know when you're lying?"

"It's from Frankie," he said. "She gave it to Jane who gave it to me to give to you. But please read it, I think it's important." Eddie stared at it for a moment, debating just throwing it right into the garbage, but curiosity won him over and he ripped it open.

* * *

_Dear Eddie,_

_I know that the last thing that you expected or wanted was a letter from me, but there were a few things that I thought you should know. I hadn't planned on telling you any of this, but I realize that it's not only to save my own reputation, but also to prevent something bad from happening to you too. _

_There were three things that you said when you rejected me, and I plan on addressing each. First of all, what happened with Zach. I'll admit that I was not at all interested in him, but the truth is, I was trying to let him down as easily as possible. He called me at least 20 times after I met him at the party and I didn't answer any of his calls. I had thought that after the first unanswered message or two he would take the hint, but apparently not. If I hurt Zach, I am sorry. It wasn't what I intended to do. _

_Second of all, I wanted to say something about what you said about the way I have treated you since I met you, and the things that I said when I was asking you out. Once again, I'm sorry if "cold-hearted bitchiness" is the only impression you have gotten from me, because once again, that was not what I intended. When I asked you out, I'll admit, I was nervous. I was flustered, which doesn't happen to me often, and things came out very different from what I intended them to be. That being said, I don't think you can honestly say that anything I said was wrong. We are two very different people, obviously, and the truth is, I never thought I would ever be attracted to someone with the qualities that you have. But the reality is that I was. I didn't mean for what I said to be insulting, I just meant to emphasize that I hadn't planned on being attracted to you._

_Okay. That brings me to the main reason I wanted to write this letter – Gabriella Wicks. The truth is that you have been deceived by her. I'm assuming, by what you said to me, that Gabriella told you that she dated my ex back in high school. What she probably didn't tell you was that she started seeing him before I had broken up with him. For almost a month the two of them were dating, and once he broke up with me, the two of them took their relationship public. The rumors started almost immediately, that he had broken up with me because I was a frigid bitch who wouldn't put out. And I'll give you three guesses as to who started and perpetuated those rumors. Gabriella completely betrayed me. She trashed my reputation to the entire school. For the rest of high school I was known as the girl who wouldn't put out, and I was tortured by all the guys in my school. I'm sure you can imagine the kind of things they did, so I won't go into detail. She moved away a couple of months after all this happened, and I haven't seen her since. _

_I just wanted you to know the truth about the whole situation, because the truth is, Gabriella is great at manipulating and deceiving people. And, as much as you can infuriate me, I don't want anyone else to have to go through what I went through at the hands of Gabriella Wicks._

_I know it's possible that you might completely disregard this letter, because you'll be convinced that I'm a liar. And that's perfectly legitimate, because I haven't given you very many reasons to trust me. But I'm hoping you will, for your own sake. _

_Sincerely,_

_Frankie_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews, guys! Keep it up! As some of you might be able to tell, I made a fairly major change starting in this chapter, and it will be even more evident in the next one. So keep reading! Thanks!


	8. Home

_Another winter day has come  
And gone away  
In even Paris and Rome  
And I wanna go home  
Let me go home…_

_-Michael Bublé, "Home"_

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

There's something about the holiday season that makes everyone forget about all the other crap that's going on in their lives. The funny thing is, it doesn't happen until Christmas Day. Up until that, the holiday is all stress – presents, overcrowded malls and parking lots, Christmas music that's exciting when you first hear it on the radio but after awhile makes you want to shoot yourself… and then all of a sudden, you're home, and your mom is serving you egg nog just like she did when you were a kid, and you can see all the presents mounting under the tree, and it's snowing, and then the magic of Christmas is back, just like that.

To tell the truth, the magic of Christmas played a big part in the story of Eddie and Frankie. If Eddie's family hadn't been with our families over the holidays, or if Frankie had decided to stay in the city, or if any number of things had happened to keep them from being together over Christmas, I'm sure that things would've ended completely differently.

Just another Christmas miracle.

* * *

Frankie sighed, leaning her forehead against the window of the car that she was riding in the backseat of. Charlie had volunteered to drive her and Jane home for Christmas. Frankie had had a moment of panic when she thought that Eddie might be riding them too, but Jane had anticipated that and told her almost right away that Eddie would be coming up the next day with his parents and sisters. She closed her eyes, letting the cold of the window seep through onto her skin.

She hadn't seen Eddie since she'd given him the letter, and she wasn't sure she wanted to see him. She had no idea if he believed her about Gabriella, and Zach, but from the fact that he seemed to be avoiding her, she was starting to think that he didn't. She let out another involuntary sigh. Christmas was going to be awkward at best, that was for sure. She pulled her head up off the glass, deciding to strike up the conversation in order to get herself to stop thinking about Eddie.

"So Charlie… you nervous?" she asked. Charlie smiled at her in the rearview mirror.

"A little bit," he replied. "From what I hear, Jane's dad isn't exactly the most accepting guy when it comes to boyfriends."

"Ahh yes, Mr. Bell, he's quite intimidating… he was in the Army, you know," Frankie reminded him.

"Oh stop it, Frankie. Charlie, don't listen to her. He's going to love you," Jane assured Charlie. Frankie sniggered when she saw that Charlie had paled slightly.

"You sure about that?" Charlie asked, chuckling nervously.

"Best wear your cup, Bennett," Frankie chimed in again. Jane squirmed in her seat so that she could turn around and slug Frankie on the leg. Frankie laughed, clutching her thigh where Jane had hit her.

"Ow! What the hell!" she managed to exclaim through her laughter. Jane just rolled her eyes.

Half an hour later they pulled into the Darcy family driveway, and Frankie pulled all her stuff together.

"Thanks again for the ride, Charlie," she said, pulling her purse onto her shoulder.

"No problem."

Jane turned around in her seat. "I'm sure we'll probably see you later tonight," she said. Frankie smiled.

"Can't wait." She pulled the rest of her stuff out and walked up to the front door, letting herself in.

"Hello! I'm home!" she called.

"Hi honey!" she heard her mom's voice from the kitchen. Frankie dropped her bags next to the front door, hearing paws scuffling along on the tile floor before she was attacked by her beagle.

"Hi Lydia! Did you miss me?" Frankie said, leaning down and scratching behind the excited dog's ears. Lydia jumped up on Frankie, causing her to tumble backwards. Frankie giggled as Lydia licked her cheek. She managed to get up after a few minutes before walking into the kitchen and seeing her mom, Emily Darcy, in her usual position – wearing an apron and cooking.

"Hi Mom," Frankie greeted her, walking over and kissing her on the cheek.

"Hi honey, how was the drive?"

Frankie snagged a chunk of the tomato her mom was chopping, popping it into her mouth as she sat down on a barstool across the counter from her. Lydia came up and stood at the foot of the barstool, wagging her tail excitedly. "It was fine… Charlie's a nervous wreck though."

Emily smiled knowingly. "Of course he is… he knows that Jane's dad was in the Army, right?"

"Oh yeah, I made sure of that," Frankie said with a giggle. "What are we having for dinner?"

"Lasagna."

Frankie's mouth started to water. Her mom was the best cook she'd ever met. "Dinner is just going to be the three of us, but the Bells are coming over for dessert and coffee later this evening," Emily informed her daughter. Frankie smiled. Her mom was so predictable.

"Where's Grace?" she asked.

"Upstairs," Emily replied. Frankie stood up.

"I'm gonna go say hi." She walked upstairs and straight to Grace's room, knocking on the door gently before easing it open.

"Hey little sister," Frankie said with a smile as she entered the room. Grace Darcy was sitting on her bed reading, as usual, her big brown eyes that were the same as Frankie's peering through the glasses perched on her nose and her brown hair that was the exact same shade as Frankie's tied up in a ponytail. Grace smiled and put her book down.

"Hi Frankie," she greeted her. Frankie crossed the room and hugged her sister before plopping down onto the bed next to her.

"How are you? How's school going?"

"It's going well… I'm taking a British literature class that I love," Grace replied, her eyes lighting up. Frankie smiled.

"You are such a bookworm," she teased, pushing her shoulder. Grace rolled her eyes. "So the last time I talked to you, you had a crush on that guy who lives in your building. What happened with that?"

Grace looked down at her hands, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Nothing, of course… he has a girlfriend, they just started dating a few weeks ago."

Frankie sighed. "I'm sorry, Gracie."

Grace shrugged. "It's not a big deal." Frankie reached over and smoothed her sister's hair. Sometimes she wished she could prevent stuff like this from even happening to Grace. She was so quiet and so shy, and little things like the guy she has a crush on having a girlfriend had way more of an impact on her than they did on other people.

"So tell me more about your class," Frankie changed the subject, stretching out on the bed next to Grace.

* * *

"Frankie! Come on downstairs!" Emily called.

"I'll be there in a second!" Frankie yelled back. She was standing in front of the mirror fixing her hair, her stomach flipping over. Eddie had arrived at the Bell house that morning with the rest of his family, and now they were on their way to her house for brunch. Frankie stared in the mirror, willing herself to calm down. It was a big day. Not only was she going to be seeing Eddie for the first time since she'd written him the letter, and was going to be meeting the rest of his family and vice versa, but the engagement party was that night, and she had to make sure it all went off without a hitch.

She took a deep breath and set her shoulders. She could do this. She was Frankie Darcy, she had pitched ideas to boardrooms of billionaires when she was only 23 years old. She could handle this. She straightened out her red cable knit sweater and picked imaginary lint off her jeans before making her way downstairs. Her heart started pounding when she realized that they were already there. Mrs. Bell spotted her first, smiling widely.

"Hey, there's my second daughter!" she said, holding out her arms. Frankie smiled and stepped into them as Mrs. Bell hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. "How are you, Frankie?" Frankie had just seen her the night before, but the Bells had always been such a warm and friendly family – hugs were standard when they entered a room.

"I'm good. How are you, Abigail?"

"I'm great now that my two daughters are home for awhile!" Frankie laughed. Mrs. Bell stepped away and Mr. Bell stepped into her place, hugging her just as tightly. He hadn't come over the night before, because they'd been having some sort of an emergency with their Christmas tree, so she was seeing him for the first time.

"So are you still bringing Corporate America to its knees?" he asked in his low, gruff voice. Frankie giggled.

"Of course, as always."

Mr. Bell stepped away and once he did, she could see four unfamiliar people standing in the entryway, flanked by Charlie and Eddie. She avoided Eddie's gaze.

"Frankie," Jane said from her side. "I'd like you to meet Matthew and Carrie Bennett, Eddie and Charlie's parents, and their sisters, Maggie and Kelly."

Frankie smiled and shook Mr. Bennett's hand, seeing immediately where Eddie got his teasing, chocolate brown eyes. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Bennett," Frankie said politely, shaking Mrs. Bennett's hand next. She turned to the two daughters next. "Hi girls, it's nice to meet you, I'm Frankie." The girls smiled.

"Come on in, everyone, the food is all ready in the kitchen, coffee's hot, here, let me take your coats…" Emily babbled, stepping into her hostess role. Frankie hanged back, waiting for everyone to walk ahead, but she noticed that Eddie wasn't moving either. She looked up at him, and their eyes locked. She gulped.

"Hi," Eddie said. He had a look on his face that she hadn't ever seen before.

"Hi," she replied. He shifted awkwardly, looking like he had something to say, but Frankie was sure she didn't want to hear it, so she just walked down the hall towards the kitchen. When she walked in, she noticed Grace standing in the corner, looking awkward like she did in most social situations. Frankie took charge, walking over and taking Grace by the hand.

"Kelly, Maggie," she called. The two girls turned around. Frankie ushered Grace forward. "This is my sister, Grace. She's the same age as you guys." Kelly smiled.

"Hi Grace," she greeted her cheerfully. Grace smiled shyly and raised one hand in a greeting. Frankie stood back and smiled as the three girls began to talk, then walked away. She had taken one step towards the food when she looked up and noticed Eddie, standing at the entrance to the kitchen, looking at her. She froze in her spot for a moment before looking away, grabbing a cup of coffee.

* * *

"Bye! See you guys tomorrow!" Frankie called cheerfully as the Bells and Bennetts left her house later that afternoon. Eddie lagged behind the rest of the group, and as they were all headed back towards the Bell house he turned around, giving Frankie a very subtle thumbs-up and a smile. Frankie smiled back, she couldn't help herself. Everything was set in motion now – Mr. and Mrs. Bennett were in on the surprise and had offered to take Jane and Charlie out for a nice, fancy dinner that night. But really they would be going to the hotel lobby in the downtown area of the small suburb, where the party would be waiting for them. Frankie went back inside and closed the door behind her.

"So is everything ready?" her mom asked her. Frankie smiled.

"Looks that way… ahh, I'm nervous! I really hope it all goes well and it's a surprise for them," she said, following her mom further into the house.

"So…" Emily started. Frankie stopped walking. Her mom had one of those looks on her face. "That Eddie guy… he helped you plan the party, huh?" she asked.

"Yes…" Frankie answered slowly. Her mother continued to smile at her.

"He's pretty cute, isn't he?"

Frankie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Oh god, not you too…"

"Not me too, what does that mean?"

Frankie sighed. "Let's just say I've been there, and I've done that, and it didn't work out too well." Emily's smug grin turned into a frown.

"What happened?" she asked, but Frankie shook her head and started to walk away. Her mom grabbed her elbow. "Come on, honey, tell me what happened."

Frankie sighed. "Long story short… I had kind of a crush on him, but I blew it. And now he thinks I'm a horrible person, and… and that's all there is to say," she explained. Emily cocked her head to the side, giving her daughter a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry to hear that… but honey, I'm pretty sure he doesn't hate you."

Frankie furrowed her brow. "How would you know?"

"Well, for one thing, the way he was looking at you almost the entire time he was here." Frankie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Francesca… he was looking at you like he couldn't keep his eyes off you."

Frankie raised her eyes to meet her mom's. Her mom wasn't the kind of person who would lie just to make her kid feel better. In fact, she was the most honest person Frankie knew. Emily reached up and patted Frankie's cheek.

"Just think about it, sweetheart."

Frankie watched her mother go before turning and walking towards the laundry room, where they'd left Lydia for the afternoon so she wouldn't disturb the guests. The dog jumped up on her as soon as she walked in the door, and Frankie crouched down to her level.

"How's my girl doing?" she asked as she scratched the dog behind her ears. "Y'know, I think you're the only Darcy here who won't need to have a serious talk with me about stupid Eddie Bennett." In response, Lydia simply cocked her head to the side. Frankie laughed and hugged her dog.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

Frankie sighed, shifting from foot to foot. She was standing in front of the doors to the hotel lobby, dressed in her black dress and heels. She had arrived at the hotel an hour early to help get everything set up and make sure the caterers are ready, and now she was ready to receive the first guests. People were supposed to start arriving any minute, and she had 45 minutes until the Bennetts would arrive with Jane and Charlie. It had started snowing pretty hard about an hour or two before, and she was a little nervous that it might discourage their city friends from making the 45 minute drive into their suburb, but there wasn't really anything she could do about that. The front door of the hotel swung open and she plastered a smile on her face, but it was just Eddie. Her smile faded as she watched him shake the snow off his hair and coat. He pulled off his coat and she could see that he was wearing the same suit he'd worn to the wedding, and even though his hair was still messy, and she could still see the calluses on his hands… she had never been so attracted to him. She tried to swallow her attraction as he looked up and spotted her.

"Hey," he said, handing his coat to the coat check desk and making his way towards her. "How's everything going? Everything set up?"

"Yeah, everything's ready," she replied. "We had a slight near-miss emergency a little while ago with the caterers, but we got it all sorted out."

"Good." Eddie stood next to her, his hands on his hips, looking down on her. Frankie looked away, wetting her lips. "You did a really good job with all of this, Frankie. The room looks great."

"Thanks," she muttered. He was still looking at her

"Look, Frankie, I've been meaning to tell you-"

"Oh, look, people," Frankie interrupted when she saw the front door of the hotel open. Eddie sighed and turned, and the two of them got ready to greet their first guests.

* * *

Forty minutes later Eddie had gotten the call on his cell phone letting him know that the Bennetts were on their way with Charlie and Jane. Mrs. Bennett has set up an elaborate scheme involving going to one restaurant only to have the maitre'd tell them that they were full for the night, and then Mr. Bennett suggesting the hotel restaurant.

"Okay everybody!" Eddie called loudly, getting everyone's attention. He motioned for the deejay to stop the music. "Jane and Charlie are on their way here with my parents, so everybody get ready." There was a cheer as everyone arranged themselves so that they were facing the large French doors that were closed at the moment. Frankie and Eddie stood at the front of the group, along with the Bells, the Darcys, and the rest of the Bennetts. Frankie looked over at her little sister, seeing that she was talking and laughing with Maggie and Kelly. Frankie smiled.

"Your sister's pretty quiet," she heard from behind her. She turned, seeing Eddie standing there. Frankie nodded.

"Yeah… she's such a smart and wonderful girl, but she's just so insecure," Frankie said, looking over at her sister as she said it. "Your sisters are being so wonderful to her, by the way. They're very sweet girls." Eddie chuckled.

"Yeah… they're not so sweet when they're running around yelling about unequal bathroom time and stolen lipsticks," he remarked. Frankie laughed. "It is kinda surprising, though," Eddie said after a moment. Frankie gave him a skeptical look.

"That's not really surprising, Eddie. They are girls after all. You should've heard some of the arguments my sister and I had back in the day."

Eddie shook his head. "No, no, that's not what I meant."

"Oh. Well what did you mean?"

"I meant that it's surprising that your sister is so insecure," he said. Frankie wasn't sure what to make of that. "I mean, from what I see, she is a very sweet girl, but what I really mean is that it's surprising because her big sister is nothing like that."

Frankie furrowed her brow. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

"Are you… what…" she stuttered.

"I'm not insulting you," Eddie said quickly. She noticed that his eyes had gotten wide. "I wasn't… oh man, open mouth, insert foot…" he rambled. Frankie smiled slowly. Eddie ran his fingers through his hair. "It was supposed to be a compliment, because you're so confident, and… yeah."

"Well I try to teach some of that to Grace," Frankie said, deciding to put him out of his misery by changing the subject.

"That's good, that's… good," Eddie said. Frankie smiled again. He was a little bit shaken up. It was interesting to see. They both stood there in silence for a moment, just looking at each other.

"They're here!" Frankie heard her mom say. She peered through the window, seeing the Bennetts walk in with Charlie and Jane. She turned around and helped Eddie to shush everyone.

"I think the restaurant is through here," she heard Mr. Bennett say.

"No, I don't think that's – Dad, I think that's a private party!" Charlie said.

"No, no, it is, here's the restaurant." The doors swung open, and everyone inside the room yelled "Surprise!" at Charlie and Jane's shocked faces. Everyone laughed and clapped as Jane and Charlie slowly realized what was going on and walked into the room.

"Oh my god… Frankie!" Jane said when she saw her. Frankie laughed and hugged her.

"Congratulations, guys! Welcome to your engagement party!" Frankie said. Charlie came over and hugged her next.

"You were behind all of this, weren't you?" he asked. Frankie giggled.

"You bet. Although I can't take all the credit, Eddie helped," she replied. Eddie smiled at his brother.

"I didn't do much."

Jane laughed. "Yeah, I bet not."

"Well come on, greet your guests," Frankie teased.

* * *


	9. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me

_I can't find, oh the right romantic line  
But see me once and see the way I feel  
Don't discard me just because you think I mean you harm  
But these cuts I have they need love to help them heal_

_-Elton John, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"_

**CHAPTER NINE**

This story is exhausting, isn't it?

Watching the interplay between Frankie and Eddie, the relentless game of cat-and-mouse that they've got going on… their chemistry is so insane that it blinds the both of them to what is actually going on. From the outside looking in, it's near impossible to understand why these two didn't just get it over with and jump each other right when they met. It's exhausting just to watch, I can't even imagine what it was like to live it.

It's almost over, I promise.

Stay with me now…

* * *

Frankie sat on a barstool at the edge of the bar, a glass of champagne in her hand, watching as Jane and Charlie danced and feeling a sense of déjà vu from the wedding she had just attended, only this time she wasn't counting the minutes until she could leave. In fact, she was smiling as she watched Jane and Charlie, who looked so blissfully happy to be dancing together, celebrating their engagement.

"They look pretty happy together, huh?"

Frankie turned around and wasn't surprised to see Eddie sitting down in the chair next to hers. He had been almost a constant present the entire night.

"They are happy together," Frankie replied, looking at Charlie and Jane again. "It's like, I look at them and it makes me happy, even though I really have no reason to be happy."

"What do you mean, you have no reason to be happy?"

She looked back over at him. "I just meant that their happiness is contagious. I'm really happy for them," Frankie said, covering her tracks somewhat. That hadn't been what she meant, but Eddie didn't need to know that. The song that was playing ended and a new one started up, and Frankie couldn't help her breath catching when she heard what it was – "Songbird" by Eva Cassidy.

"What?" Eddie asked, apparently noticing her intake of breath.

"Oh, I uh… I just… I like this song," she said with a bashful smile.

"Well then," Eddie said, standing up. Frankie flushed red as he extended a hand to her. "Would you like to dance with me?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that, I was really just making conversation about the song…" she trailed off when Eddie continued to stand there with his hand outstretched. He didn't say a word, but he apparently wasn't taking no for an answer, so she stood up and took his hand. He led her out to the dance floor, and her sense of déjà vu increased, but this time, Eddie's fingers were wrapped tenderly around her own, and he wasn't yanking her behind him. They reached the dance floor and he turned, putting a hand on her waist and holding her right hand in his. They slowly started to sway to the music, and Frankie could feel a question rising in her mind. She gulped. She had to know.

"So… before, at the wedding… why did you ask me to dance?" she asked. His shoulders shrugged underneath her hand.

"Why did you say yes?"

Frankie bit her bottom lip. She didn't really have an answer to that. She could blame it on the champagne… but she'd really just wanted to be close to him. Eddie cleared his throat.

"I've been meaning to talk to you since I came into town," he said. Frankie's mouth went dry.

"Oh really," she managed to get out. She looked at the wall over his shoulder, attempting to avoid his gaze.

"Yeah… I got your letter, and I just wanted to, um… talk to you about it."

"What's there to talk about?" she asked.

"Frankie," he said softly. She looked up at him. "I wanted to thank you," he said. That caught her attention.

"Thank me?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah… um, I didn't believe you, at first… y'know, when I first read the letter. I mean, I read it, and I didn't understand why you would make up a story like that, and I was still holding out hope that you were wrong, and that Gabriella was a good person…" Eddie chuckled and looked away as he shook his head. "She dumped me. I asked her about what you said, and all I wanted was confirmation from her that it was all lies… she made up some excuse and left, and I haven't heard from her since then. I did, however, see her at the movie theater, making out with some guy in the back row."

Frankie sighed. Her emotions were conflicted. Part of her wanted to say "I told you so," especially since he had just admitted that he hadn't believed her at first… but she also felt bad for him, that he had fallen victim to Gabriella's manipulation.

"I'm sorry, Eddie," she said, sympathy winning out. Eddie shook his head.

"No, don't apologize. I should be apologizing to you. I can't… I can't imagine what it must've been like for you, and I'm so sorry I didn't believe you."

Frankie swallowed hard. "It was high school, it was a long time ago."

"That doesn't matter," Eddie insisted emphatically. Frankie brought her eyes up to meet his.

"Forget about it, Eddie," she said with a smile. "I'm a strong girl, I made it through just fine. I'm just sorry that you had to get mixed up in all this."

Eddie shrugged. "I'm just glad I found out before…" He trailed off, looking at something behind Frankie.

"What?" she asked, turning around so she could see what he was looking at.

"Zach… Zach is over there, kissing your friend… what is her name?"

Frankie turned back around, smiling. "That's my friend Carly Lucas," she replied. "I set the two of them up."

Eddie looked back down at her. "Really," he said.

"Yeah… the two of them are actually pretty similar, and uh…" Frankie swallowed. "Well the thing is, I realized that you were right about the way I treated Zach. I mean, I felt guilty at the time, but when you said it to me, I just… I felt a lot more guilty, so I wanted to make it up to him."

"Wow," Eddie said, looking at Zach and Carly again. They had turned slightly so that she could see the two of them dancing too. "They look happy."

"Yeah, they do."

Eddie looked back down at her. "I wanted to apologize to you about that, too… I was wrong to jump down your throat about that. I wasn't in the situation, and I know that Zach can be kind of clingy and desperate sometimes… I mean, he's never asked me out, but I imagine I'd have a hard time rejecting him too." Frankie giggled. "So… I'm sorry for all that, for being such an ass to you, and um… I was hoping maybe we could be friends?"

Frankie smiled. "That'll be a change," she remarked. Eddie chuckled.

"Yeah, it will be. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, even if we are friends, I enjoy our verbal thrashings too much to be like, nice to you or something."

Frankie laughed again. "Well that's good, cuz I have a feeling that without the verbal thrashings, we'd be just plain boring."

"Good. Glad we're on the same page." The two of them laughed for a moment before settling into silence. Eddie pulled her closer, and Frankie laid her head on his shoulder without really realizing it as the two of them continued dancing.

* * *

"Okay. See that guy over there?" Frankie asked, pointing to a chubby guy in a flannel shirt, lounging around in the opposite corner of the room. She and Eddie were sitting at a table, laughing as they talked about the other guests at the party. She couldn't believe how much fun she was having with him.

"Yeah…" he replied.

"That's Jack Greene, Jane and I went to high school with him and his sister… okay, in 10th grade, he got busted for making out in the storeroom with our librarian," she said, barely getting the words out because she was laughing so much. Eddie's jaw dropped for a moment before he started laughing loudly with her.

"Wha… him? Look at him!"

As if on cue, they watched as Jack looked around, then discreetly smelled his armpits. Frankie and Eddie burst into laughter again.

"Well, it's not like the librarian was a stone fox," Frankie said. "I think she was about 48 years old at the time."

Eddie leaned back in his chair, resting his hand on his stomach as he laughed. "Oh man… that's good stuff. Are you guys actually still friends with him? Why'd you invite him here?"

Frankie scrunched her nose. "Well, unfortunately Jane is still friends with his sister, who's a little weird too, and I didn't want to invite his sister and not him, so…"

Eddie scoffed. "I wouldn't've invited either of them," he said, taking a sip of his drink. Frankie giggled. Eddie put his drink down and smiled over at her.

"Look at us… we're actually having a conversation," he observed.

"I know… it's weird."

"Next thing you know we'll be having some deep, in-depth heart-to-heart about our hopes and dreams and all that junk," Eddie said, laughing. Frankie laughed as well before looking back out at the dance floor. The deejay was playing a fast dance song, and she saw Eddie's parents dancing in the middle of the floor.

"Aw, Eddie, look!" she said, elbowing him. They both watched as Mr. Bennett spun Mrs. Bennett around, the two of them almost toppling over when she ran into him. Frankie giggled, watching the Bennetts laugh, but when she looked back at Eddie, she saw that his cheeks had tinged red.

"Wow… that's embarrassing," he murmured.

"What? Why? It's cute! Look how much fun they're having!" Frankie insisted.

"Look how drunk my mom is!" Eddie said, imitating Frankie's voice. Frankie giggled again when she saw Mrs. Bennett plant a wet kiss on her husband right in the middle of the dance floor.

"Oh geez, seriously, do I need to go out there and get them?" Eddie said. Frankie swatted him on the arm.

"Stop it. They're cute." She paused, her eyes glazing over slightly as she watched the Bennetts dance. "It must be nice to see your parents still happy and in love after all these years." At that remark, Eddie's attention turned from his parents back to Frankie. He cleared his throat.

"So… if you don't mind me asking…" he started. Frankie looked over at him. "I mean, you don't have to answer, but I was just wondering…"

"About my dad?" Frankie finished for him. Eddie nodded. "It's okay, I don't mind answering… he left, when I was 10. He was always really self-centered, and when he got rich with his business, he decided he didn't need my mom or my sister or me anymore, so he left. He sent child support checks once a month, and he paid for my and my sister's college education, but I pretty much haven't seen him since. He wants nothing to do with us. My mom kept his name, because my sister and I did, and she wanted everyone to know that we were family, but…" she trailed off.

"Wow," Eddie said softly. Frankie nodded.

"Yeah… Grace took it really hard. She was only 5 when he left, and I think that might be why she's so shy and insecure… she has always thought that it was something she did that drove our dad away, which is crazy, but… I don't know. In situations like these, it's hard to see the truth. All you can see is how it made you feel."

"How did it make you feel?" Eddie asked. Frankie brought her eyes up to meet his.

"Me?" she asked. Eddie nodded. Frankie shrugged. "I uh…" She swallowed. "Angry. It made me angry. I never understood why he left, and I never will, and all I feel when I think about him is anger."

The two of them were quiet for a minute after that. Frankie was thinking about how embarrassing it was that she'd just spilled her guts to Eddie when they'd only decided to be friends a few hours ago, while Eddie was busy gaining a bigger understanding of who Frankie was. He knew she'd never say it, but Frankie's dad was the reason that she wasn't in a relationship, and didn't appear to want to be in one. She wasn't just angry at her father, she was angry at men in general. Not only did her dad leave her for money, basically, but she worked in a field where she was surrounded by filthy rich corporate executives, who were probably all cookie-cutter versions of her father. Their attention was drawn away from their thoughts when they saw that the Bennetts had started up a game of Limbo on the dance floor. Frankie smiled at Eddie again.

"Count yourself lucky," she told him. He smiled at her.

"I do," he said. The two of them fell into silence again before Frankie cleared her throat and changed her subject.

"So you know my deep dark secret now… what's yours?" she asked. Eddie chuckled.

"Deep dark secret? I have no deep dark secrets."

"Oh come on, there's gotta be something," she cajoled him. He looked thoughtful.

"Actually…" He trailed off, smiling shyly. "Well now I feel dumb."

"Don't," she said. He looked up at her, then looked back down at his fingers, circling the rim of his drink.

"I'll work at Bennett Construction for awhile, but it's actually been a goal of mine to start my own business."

"Really," Frankie said, surprised. "What kind of business?"

"Actually, a bar," he said. "Now, don't laugh… I know that bars aren't exactly your kind of establishment-"

"I'm not laughing," she cut him off. "Go on. What kind of bar?"

"Well, see, there are all kinds of different bars… karaoke bars, sports bars, uptown, classy bars, dance clubs/bars, and so on… but no one has really successfully combined all of those different styles. That's what I want to do. I have some ideas… but what I want to do is make a bar that literally anyone would want to go to, where anyone can go and have an honestly good time." He stopped talking and looked at Frankie, who could've sworn that she saw something glimmering in his eyes… hope maybe?

"I think that's great."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes, really. Any kind of entrepreneurship is a brave move, and a bar can be a really great investment, especially if you have the right kind of atmosphere, right location, et cetera, et cetera. I think you should go for it."

Eddie didn't say anything, but just smiled at her. "Yeah?"

"Definitely." Eddie didn't say anything for a moment.

"Thanks, Frankie… that means a lot," he said quietly. They sat there for a moment before a voice interrupted them.

"Hey guys." Frankie looked up to see Jane standing next to them, pulling a chair out.

"Hi Jane… how's the party?"

"Wonderful… thanks again for planning this, you guys. So amazing," Jane said emphatically. Frankie smiled and reached over, patting Jane's hand. "However…" Jane raised an eyebrow and Frankie swallowed a groan. "…you guys look like you're having an awful lot of fun over here, just the two of you." Frankie felt her cheeks redden.

"Yes, news in that department," Eddie said before Frankie could say anything herself. "Frankie and I are friends."

Jane raised both her eyebrows. "Friends, huh? That is a new development. You two sure you can handle that?"

Eddie smiled at Frankie. "Guess we'll find out."

* * *

Frankie yawned when she woke up, light spilling in through the blinds of her old bedroom that she was sleeping in. She rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 10:00 AM, which was way later than she normally slept, but she had stayed late at the hotel until everyone left, and then she had to make sure everything got cleaned up, so it had been a late night. A slow, easy smile came to her lips when she remembered what had happened the night before, and an image of Eddie smiling genuinely at her lingered in her mind. She closed her eyes.

But before she could allow herself to indulge in the images for very long, a nagging thought in the back of her mind yanked her out of it. She sighed, opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling. She didn't want to lose the control. She'd just gained back the control in her life, she was finally starting to feel like herself again, and she didn't want to lose it, especially if Eddie was just going to bring her life crashing back down again.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," she called, sitting up in bed and pulling the sheets closer to her body. The door opened and Grace was behind it.

"Morning," she said, walking into the room. Lydia was close behind her, and hopped up onto the bed.

"Hey, morning Gracie," Frankie greeted, her voice thick with sleep. Grace walked over and sat at the end of the bed next to Lydia, petting the top of her head.

"What time did you end up getting home last night?" she asked. Frankie rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, I don't know, I think it was around 3:30 or so," she replied.

"Wow… so the party was a pretty big success, huh?"

Frankie smiled. "Yeah… I'm so glad everyone who RSVPed came… well, there was like, one or two people who couldn't make it because of the weather, but most everyone was there, and Jane and Charlie were totally surprised, which makes me happy."

Grace smiled at her sister. "I'm surprised you even noticed that the party was a success… you were pretty wrapped up in Eddie Bennett."

Frankie groaned and flopped down onto the bed behind her. "Not you too, Gracie! Jesus, does everyone feel like they need to inform me of my attraction to him?"

"Ooh, so you ARE attracted to him!"

Frankie bit her tongue, literally. "I didn't say that."

"Sure you didn't."

Frankie sat back up again. "Can we change the subject?"

Grace rolled her eyes. "Fine… I came up here cuz Mom says you need to get up… Grandma and Grandpa are going to be here any minute… and by the way, change of plans… they brought our dear Great Aunt Cathy."

Frankie let out another groan. "What? Seriously, that old hag?"

"Frankie, she is our great aunt," Grace scolded.

"Yeah right, don't pretend like you like her or something."

"I'm not… but I don't think you should call her an old hag." Frankie stuck out her tongue. "God, and I'm supposed to be the little sister?" Frankie giggled before hitting Grace square in the face with a pillow as Lydia barked.

An hour later Frankie emerged from her bedroom, showered and dressed, and made her way downstairs where she could hear her grandparents' voices. She walked into the living room, seeing her Grandma and Grandpa sitting on the couch, chatting with her mother. Violet and Richard Darcy were her father's parents, but her mother had always placed huge importance on family, and had always told her daughters that just because their father didn't live with them anymore didn't mean that he wasn't still family. Luckily, Violet and Richard were of the same opinion, and continued to see Grace and Frankie even after their son decided to make himself disappear.

"Hi Grandma, hi Grandpa," she greeted them, going over to the couch and hugging her grandparents.

"There's our little Frankie. Were you hiding up in your room?" Violet asked.

"Yep. Hi Grandpa," Frankie replied as she hugged her grandfather. Richard, a man of very few words, simply smiled at his granddaughter.

"So… Grace told me that Aunt Cathy is here," Frankie said, trying to keep her voice sounding upbeat as she sat down next to her grandmother. The same rule applied to Cathy – her grandfather's sister was still family – but Aunt Cathy's not-quite-sunny disposition made it a lot more difficult to tolerate her.

"Yes she is, she was going to go visit Bill & Amy in Virginia, but there was a change of plans, so she's here with us for the holidays," Violet said, giving her granddaughter a warning look. Frankie smiled shyly, shrugging as if to suggest that she was completely innocent of anything Violet was thinking of. "And I should tell you… she's brought along a surprise for you."

Frankie's smile disappeared. "A surprise?"

As if on cue, Aunt Cathy walked through the door. She was an older woman, in her late 80s the last time Frankie checked, but stubborn as an ox, especially when it came to her dignity. She was wearing a very old-fashioned Christmas dress with a sweater draped around her shoulders, her gray hair pulled back so tightly into a bun that her eyebrows were practically slanted backwards. Frankie mustered up a smile.

"Hi Aunt Cathy, merry Christmas!" she greeted her pseudo-cheerfully. Cathy smiled, or what was her version of a smile anyway – her nose wrinkled, and the corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly.

"Merry Christmas, Francesca," she greeted her stiffly. Aunt Cathy was the only member of her family who had never called her Frankie, and never would – after all, it was a _boy's_ name, as Cathy constantly reminded her. Cathy moved further into the room, and Frankie noticed for the first time that there was a man she had never seen before following her. He was tall and fairly good-looking, wearing an expensive suit and was clearly way overdressed. "Francesca… this is Carl Bingley, he's a friend of the family. Carl, this is my niece that I was telling you about, Francesca."

Frankie froze.

_Leave it to Aunt Cathy to try and set me up with a stranger on Christmas._

Carl was walking towards her, and Frankie felt an elbow in her side from her grandmother. She recovered enough of her manners to stand and smile politely as she shook Carl's hand.

"Francesca… it's a pleasure to meet you. Your aunt has told me so much about you," he said, smiling at her. Frankie smiled back.

"Nice to meet you too, but please… call me Frankie." She could feel Cathy shooting daggers at the back of her head, but she ignored it. Violet scooted over so that there was room for Frankie and Carl to sit next to each other on the couch, and Cathy sat down in an armchair opposite them. Grace entered the room holding a box of Christmas tree ornaments, which she started hanging on the tree, shooting a teasing grin at Frankie. Frankie glared at her sister menacingly.

"Francesca," Cathy said, drawing her attention back to the ridiculous situation at hand. "Carl is joining us for the holidays because his job prevents him from taking the time to go visit his family."

"Oh really," Frankie said dryly, not in the least bit interested. Carl smiled cockily.

"Yes, I'm a lawyer in the Chicago Attorney General's office, and I really don't have the luxury of taking time off."

"That must be quite trying for you," Frankie said in a monotone voice. Emily sat up straighter and cleared her throat, obviously recognizing the potential disaster at hand.

"Oh, Frankie, I completely forgot, I need you to go out to the store to grab a bottle of wine for us to take over to the Bells tonight… did I tell you that they invited us over for dinner?" Frankie's mom informed her. Frankie's eyes widened.

"No, actually, you failed to mention that," she said. Emily smiled slyly.

"Yep… dinner at the Bells… should be fun," she said with a wink. Frankie tried her best to ignore her.

"Okay, well, I'll go right now," she said, standing up. Carl started to stand as well.

"Please, let me come with you," he said.

"No! I mean…" Frankie cleared her throat. "No, please, Carl, sit. Relax, it's your holiday, remember? I'll be back in just a few minutes." She shot him a semi-polite smile before hurrying out of the house.

Dinner at the Bells… interesting indeed.

* * *

"Hello Hello! Come on in, everyone, please come in," Mrs. Bell greeted the Darcys at the door that night. Frankie swallowed her butterflies as she entered the house along with the rest of her family… and Carl. She watched as Mrs. Bell hugged her mom, shook hands with her grandparents and Aunt Cathy, and kissed her sister and herself on the forehead. Mrs. Bell ended up standing in front of Carl. "I don't know you," she said with a laugh.

"Abigail, this is Carl Bingley, Aunt Cathy brought him along to celebrate the holidays with us. Carl, this is Abigail Bell," Emily introduced the two of them.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Bell," Carl said politely, shaking her hand.

"You too, Carl… always a pleasure to have new faces around here."

Frankie smiled and watched the two families interact but at the same time, looked around in her peripheral vision for Eddie. She sighed, wishing that she wouldn't do that, but it seemed to be beyond her newfound control.

"Well come on in, take your coats off. We're going to have a full house tonight, but it should be fun," Mrs. Bell said as she took Emily's coat. Frankie started to take her own coat off.

"Let me help with that," she heard from behind her. She knew immediately whose hands were helping her coat off her shoulders, and the thought of it made her heart beat faster. She turned around, seeing Eddie smile as he folded her coat over his arm. She noticed that Carl had turned too, a forlorn look on his face as he eyed Eddie.

"Thanks," she said.

"My pleasure," Eddie replied. The number of people standing in the small foyer caused the two of them to stand very close together, and Frankie had the distinct feeling that they were being watched by at least half of the people in there. Eddie apparently noticed the same thing, backing away from her and clearing his throat.

"So… Jane and Charlie are still reeling from that surprise we gave them," he said with a smile. Frankie smiled back.

"Good… I'm so glad it worked out," she said.

"Yeah, me too. You really did a good job with that."

"Hey now, I can't take all the credit. You did help, remember?"

Eddie gave her a skeptical look. "Yeah right, if by 'help' you mean 'antagonized and made fun of you.'" Frankie giggled.

"Who is this young man?" Cathy's voice interrupted their friendly banter. Frankie resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"This is Eddie Bennett, and his brother Charlie, Charlie is Jane's fiancée… and these are his parents, Matthew and Carrie, and his sisters, Maggie and Kelly. Bennetts, these are Frankie's grandparents, Richard and Violet, and her aunt Cathy, and Cathy's friend Carl Bingley," Mrs. Bell introduced everyone, and there was another round of "hello"s and "how are you"s before the group finally made their way from the foyer to the living room.

"So… Charlie, what is it that you do?" Aunt Cathy was asking as everyone was getting settled. Charlie looked a bit taken aback, but Frankie wasn't surprised in the least. Aunt Cathy knew that Emily and Mrs. Bell were best friends, and had known Jane for as long as Frankie had, and Aunt Cathy did this kind of interrogation with everyone who came even remotely close to her family.

"Oh, well, my dad owns a construction company, and I work there. Eddie does too, we uh… we both work there," Charlie stumbled over his words. Frankie hid a giggle behind her hand at the look on Charlie's face – he was clearly nervous and knew he was being interrogated, but confused as to why exactly he was nervous, considering Aunt Cathy wasn't even related to Jane. Aunt Cathy's gaze rounded on Eddie, who was standing next to Frankie.

"A construction company, hmm?"

The color drained from Frankie's face. She recognized Aunt Cathy's demeanor, the way she was looking down her nose at the Bennetts… all of a sudden, the situation wasn't as funny anymore.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**A/N:** Yaayy! Thanks for reading and reviewing, everybody! For those who have read this before, the changes are very obvious in this chapter... Carl Bingley is a completely new character, and I took out the character of Frankie's dad... I had wanted to do something similar to this from the beginning, but I didn't just because there are so many characters in these family scenes and I didn't want to confuse anyone, but I decided to go for it, lol. So if you're confused about who's who at any point, let me know and I'll try to clarify. Also, the character of Carl for anyone who is interested... he's kind of a combination of Caroline Bingley and Anne DeBourgh, because in the book, both of those characters were either trying to get with Darcy or were being set up with Darcy... so yeah. Anyway, keep reading and let me know what you think, especially those of you who know the changes! Thanks!


	10. Collide

_I'm quiet, you know  
You make a first impression  
I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind _

Even the best fall down sometime  
Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the back you fall in time  
I somehow find  
You and I collide

_-Howie Day, "Collide"_

**CHAPTER TEN**

Remember that thing I said earlier, about how my mother told me that if I didn't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything? And that was why I didn't say anything about Gabriella Wicks?

Well. Even my mom agrees that rule doesn't apply when it comes to Aunt Cathy – that's how bad she is.

I've known Aunt Cathy for almost as long as Frankie has, even though she's not technically my blood relative… but every time she's at the Darcys for a holiday, I see her too. I remember when I was 6 years old, she asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I said I wanted to become a garbage man. (I was a weird 6-year-old.) That old witch looked me straight in the eye and told me that the position of garbage man was reserved for poor, dirty people, who looked like they lived in garbage anyway, and that a true lady would never go near such a "profession." (Her quotes, not mine.)

I think that explains quite a bit.

I could see the look on Aunt Cathy's face when she heard that my fiancée, his father and his brother were all construction workers… she instantly deemed herself "better" than them, and nothing that anyone could say or do would change that. She was only mildly bitchy to Charlie, because he wouldn't be marrying into her family directly… but everyone had seen the chemistry between Frankie and Eddie earlier in the night, and it was pretty dang obvious how into each other they were. Which explains why she turned on the Full Bitch mode and aimed her considerable un-matchmaking efforts on Eddie.

* * *

Frankie watched as Aunt Cathy stared Eddie down, biting her lip nervously. She had to stop it, but she felt like she was in a nightmare, running in slow motion, unable to prevent the disaster from happening. Eddie looked bewildered.

"Yes, a construction company," he replied.

"So you own the business, then?" she asked him. Eddie looked around as if he was making sure she was talking to him.

"Well, my father owns the business, and Charlie will be inheriting it one day-"

"What exactly is it that you do?" she interrupted. Frankie bit back a groan, bringing her hand up to her temples.

"Well, I help with the projects."

"So you do the manual labor," she stated plainly. She didn't give Eddie a chance to respond before she continued. "Carl is a lawyer in the Chicago Attorney General's office." Frankie felt her cheeks burn red and resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands. Could her aunt have been any more obvious? Carl, however, didn't seem to mind, seeing as how he had sat up a little straighter and was beaming with egotistical pride.

"Wow, Carl…" Eddie said dryly, his voice full of disdain. "That's just… that's great." Suddenly, Mrs. Bell cleared her throat.

"Well, can I get anyone anything to drink?" she asked, clearly trying to change the subject. She went around getting drink orders, while Emily started talking to Aunt Cathy to divert her from interrogating Eddie. The two mothers were fairly successful, managing to clear most of the tension out of the room until dinner was ready. Everyone was making their way into the dining room, and Frankie decided to take the opportunity to pull Eddie aside for a minute. She felt like she had to explain, before he became convinced, again, that she and her family were cold-hearted bitches. She weaved her way through the en masse movement toward the dining room, grabbing Eddie by the elbow and pulling him aside into the kitchen.

"What's up?" he asked. Frankie was wringing her hands in front of her, wondering how to say it without sounding condescending.

"Look, my Aunt Cathy is really… I just…" She looked around, making sure no one could hear her. She lowered her voice. "She's a really big bitch."

Eddie smirked. "No offense, but I think I could've figured that out without your help," he said. Frankie managed a wry smile.

"I just don't want you to think that I, or my parents, or my sister, or anyone else, really… have the same opinion as her, because we don't. None of us."

Eddie crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at her like he was really amused. "I know all that, Frankie."

Frankie squirmed. "Okay, well… good." She started to walk away, but Eddie stopped her.

"Whoa, whoa, wait…" he said, putting a hand on her elbow. "What are you so worried about?"

Frankie bit her tongue. She didn't want to say what she knew was the true answer to that question. "I just don't want you to think that we're terrible people just because my great aunt is a bitch, that's all. C'mon, they're waiting for us." She started walking into the dining room, and this time he didn't stop her. They entered, seeing that there were two seats next to each other open. Jane looked over at her and winked slyly, and Frankie rolled her eyes.

"Carl, come sit next to me," Aunt Cathy suddenly snapped. Carl looked up, startled.

"Oh, uh… sure, Cathy," he said, getting up from his spot next to Emily. He walked around and sat down in one of the empty chairs that were so strategically next to each other. Frankie sighed. Clearly Aunt Cathy was making her opinion painfully obvious. Frankie sat down in the chair next to Carl, while Eddie went around the table and sat in the chair that Carl had just vacated. Everyone busied themselves with passing around the food, and Frankie tried to ignore the smiles that Carl kept throwing her way every time he handed her a dish. Once everyone's plates were full and everyone had started eating, Aunt Cathy started in again.

"So, Jane, Charlie, how did you two meet?" she asked. Frankie resisted the urge to slam her forehead into her plate of mashed potatoes.

"We met at a party of a mutual friend's," Jane replied. Aunt Cathy nodded, then turned to me.

"And I suppose that you and Eddie met through Jane and Charlie?"

"Yes, Aunt Cathy," I hissed through my teeth.

"And how did the two of you get to be such good… friends?" The last word was said pointedly, with an arch of her eyebrow.

"We planned a surprise engagement party for Jane and Charlie," Frankie answered quickly, pleading with her eyes for her mother to change the subject, but Emily was looking helpless. "So, uh… we spent some time working on that."

"Actually, we met because I'm a part-time gigolo on the side, and Frankie was in need of a little male company," Eddie rattled nonchalantly before taking a bite of his ham. Frankie choked on her food, slamming her hand to her mouth in an attempt to keep it from spewing across the table. The room was dead silent for a moment.

"Edward!" Mrs. Bennett exclaimed incredulously. Frankie ventured a glance at Aunt Cathy, seeing that her expression was one of pure disgust, equal to the one adorning Carl's face. Jane's shoulders were shaking, she was trying so hard not to laugh. Frankie smiled, suddenly very amused by the situation herself. Eddie looked back at Aunt Cathy again.

"I'm just kidding, Cathy darling." He looked at Frankie and winked at her. "For Frankie, my services would definitely be for free." Frankie colored deeply, though she couldn't stop herself from laughing quietly.

"Well isn't that nice," Aunt Cathy said in a tone of voice that clearly said that it wasn't.

"I think so." Eddie looked straight back at Frankie and smiled again. She could see Aunt Cathy practically fuming in her chair, and Frankie raised an eyebrow at Eddie.

_Gigolo? _She mouthed to him. He just kept smiling.

"Francesca," Cathy said, getting her niece's attention. Frankie looked at her aunt dutifully. "Carl is quite the patron of the arts. He's got season tickets for the symphony, box seats no less."

This time Eddie was the one stifling his laughter.

* * *

After an evening filled with attempts to block off any more interrogation – or matchmaking - on Aunt Cathy's part, the Darcys were headed home. Eddie materialized at Frankie's side when she was standing by the door, holding her coat, and he helped her put it on.

"Thanks," she said, pulling out her hair from beneath the collar. "Hey… can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," he replied. "Talk." Frankie looked around awkwardly, noticing at least six people looking at them.

"Um… in private?"

"Oh… right." Eddie chuckled.

"Can we just step outside for a moment?"

"I'll do better than that, I'll walk you home." He reached into the closet and grabbed his coat.

"Oh, you don't need to do that."

"Don't worry about it." He pulled his coat on and ushered her out of the door with his hand on the small of her back. She could feel the gazes of everyone on their backs as they walked out, but she chose to ignore it. She even saw Cathy making a move to stop them in her peripheral vision, but Mrs. Bell grabbed her elbow and pulled her back into the house.

Frankie and Eddie stepped outside, walking down the shoveled sidewalk as she zipped her coat closed. They walked for a moment before Eddie cleared his throat.

"So… you wanted to talk to me?" he prompted.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Frankie's cheeks flushed. "Um, I just wanted to thank you for putting up with my Aunt Cathy. I know she's… a force to be reckoned with, to say the least. Anyway, I just really appreciate it that you were a good sport about the whole thing… much lesser guys than you have run for their lives when they met her, and you don't even really have to deal with her, because you…" Frankie trailed off when she realized what she just said, and all the implications underneath it. She looked away and cleared her throat. "Although I'm not sure that you can call claiming to be a gigolo being a 'good sport'…" She trailed off, and Eddie chuckled.

"That was just purely for my own entertainment."

Frankie laughed. "Well maybe I don't need to thank you, seeing as you got such a kick out of it."

"No, no, that's perfectly alright, thank away. I'm a big fan of gratitude. Although, if you ask me, you've got it a lot worse… I mean, is she really trying to set you up with that piece of cardboard?" Eddie asked incredulously. Frankie laughed.

"Apparently. She's always trying to set me up with some rich, hoity-toity guy… I've gotten used to it." They both smiled at each other in silence for a moment. Frankie looked up and saw that they were almost to her house.

"So… tomorrow's Christmas Eve," she said. _Wow, way to state the obvious. You are such a dork, Darcy._

"Indeed it is."

"Think you're gonna get anything good?" she asked, attempting to avoid the silence by making conversation, even if it was the dumbest conversation she'd possibly ever had. Eddie shrugged.

"I think I'm getting the first season of MASH on DVD from Charlie."

Frankie giggled. "Ooh, score," she teased.

"What about you?"

"I dunno, might get something good from dear Aunt Cathy," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Eddie laughed.

"Like Carl, naked and gift wrapped on your bed?" he asked. Frankie laughed loudly and then groaned in disgust.

"That's a very disturbing thought."

"Yeah, not only for you…" Eddie trailed off before shuddering. Frankie giggled. They turned onto the sidewalk leading to her house, and he walked with her up the few steps to her front door.

"Well… it's been a lovely evening," he said. Frankie laughed.

"Yeah right."

"No really… it's been fun."

Frankie smiled. "Well, in case we don't see you tomorrow… Merry Christmas," she said.

"Merry Christmas to you too."

Frankie had an inkling that he was going to hug her, but she wasn't prepared when he wrapped his arms around her. Her arms were around his shoulders, his around her waist, and in the cold of the evening, she could feel the warmth of his cheek against hers. He pulled back after what seemed like an eternity, and smiled at her.

"Goodnight, Frankie."

* * *

Frankie had just settled into bed and was trying her best to force herself to stop thinking about Eddie when her cell phone rang. She groaned and rolled over, digging it out from her purse next to her bed. When she saw that it was Jane, she rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Jane. I was just over there. You couldn't've talked to me then?" was how she answered the phone.

"No time for jokes, Frankie, I had to call and tell you something."

"What?"

"Before you left, when everyone was heading for the door and our moms were talking about recipes and all that crap… Aunt Cathy pulled Eddie aside to talk to him."

Frankie sat bolt upright in her bed. "Oh god…"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly, which is why I followed them and listened at the door, and get this… Aunt Cathy started ranting about how he wasn't good enough for you, and how he should do you a favor and just stay away-"

"Oh shit," Frankie muttered, leaning forward and burying her face in the blankets.

"No, no, no, that's not even the part that I had to tell you! Aunt Cathy told Eddie that she wanted him to promise that he would never go after you… and he refused."

Frankie sat upright again. "What?"

"Yeah! He was like, 'First of all, I don't answer to you, and second of all, if Frankie is interested in me, there's no way in hell I'd say no just because her bitch of an aunt has delusions of grandeur about her great niece.'"

Frankie couldn't move. She couldn't even breathe.

"Anyway, I had to tell you… I think maybe you have something to think about."

* * *

"Merry Christmas Eve, sweetheart," Emily greeted her daughter as she walked into the kitchen the next morning. Frankie smiled.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Mom," she replied. Her mother stuck her cheek out for a kiss, and Frankie obliged. "So what's the plan for today?"

"Oh, just relaxing until the evening… we're going over to the Bells again, but just for some egg nog and pie after dinner." Frankie nodded, swallowing hard.

She couldn't stop thinking about Eddie, and she had no idea what to do about it. She looked over at her mom, putting muffins into the oven, and realized that it was past time for some motherly advice.

"Mom," she started.

"Yes, dear?" Her mother turned around and took off her oven mitts. Frankie gulped again.

"Um… have you ever had a first impression of someone that turned out to be totally wrong?" she asked sheepishly, avoiding her mother's gaze by pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Of course I have. Everyone has."

Frankie added cream. "So um… how did you… well…"

Emily reached over and took her daughter's face in her hands, forcing her to look in her eyes. "Darling, why don't you drop the abstract questions and just ask me about Eddie?" Frankie opened her mouth to protest, but stopped when she realized the whole point had been to ask her mother. She plopped down on a barstool.

"I think I like Eddie," she blurted out. "A lot. I think I like him a lot. I don't understand why, he's so… so… irritating and cocky and occasionally vulgar, but… on the other hand he can be so… attentive, and he looks at me like I'm the only person alive, and he makes me be this person that I never in a million years thought that I would be…" She trailed off, then looked up at her mom intently. "He makes me nervous, Mom. NERVOUS. I haven't been nervous about a guy since… since… my god, I've NEVER been nervous about a guy! I've always been confident and independent, and it's something that I love about myself, but now… I know that I'm going to see him, and I get butterflies. He looks at me and I get goosebumps. I fumble over my words, I stick my foot in my mouth at every opportunity…" Frankie stopped talking when she realized her mother was laughing. "…and you're laughing at me! Great. Icing on the cake."

"Oh honey, I'm not laughing at you," Emily said, reaching over to touch her daughter's arm. Frankie glared at her. "No really! I'm not. I'm laughing because the solution to your problem is so obvious, and I think it's a little funny that a girl as smart as you can't figure it out."

"And what is this obvious solution, exactly?"

Emily leaned forward onto her elbows. "It's just what you said, honey. You like him, a lot. So ask him out. You just said you've always been confident and independent… why not?" Frankie shook her head vehemently.

"I can't do that, Mom. I did that once, and… it didn't work, to say the least."

"Didn't you just tell me that your first impression of Eddie was wrong?"

"Yes…" Frankie answered slowly.

"And that your conception of who he is has changed?"

"Yeah…"

"Don't you think that maybe the same thing could've happened to him?"

* * *

"Merry Christmas, Darcys!" Mrs. Bell greeted everyone cheerfully as they walked in the door. Frankie's heart was pounding, her palms sweating, her breathing labored… and all because of the envelope currently residing in her coat pocket. Everyone was cheerful as they greeted each other, Emily bearing gifts for the Bells and Bennetts. Everyone was ushered into the living room where a glass of egg nog was placed in each hand. Frankie settled into the couch she had been placed on, looking around and noticing that Eddie was nowhere to be seen. Her spirits sank slightly.

"Where's Eddie and Charlie?" Emily asked. Frankie looked over at Mrs. Bell expectantly for the reply, thanking god for mothers.

"Oh they went on a little errand for me. They should be back soon."

Carl plopped down onto the couch next to her, and Frankie's spirits sank even lower. The man had been a fixture at his side, bragging about his summer home in the Hamptons and his new Ferrari… the man was so self-centered that it made her want to scream. She had been looking forward to going to the Bells if only to get away from him for a little while… but with Eddie running errands, it looked like that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

* * *

An hour and a half later, they still weren't back. Jane had called Charlie, who said that traffic was horrible with the snow pouring down. Frankie looked down into her empty glass, feeling as though her hopes had disappeared into nothing. She'd worked up the guts to do something special, something that could possibly change everything… and now she couldn't even give it to him, and she had a feeling that if she didn't do it that night, she'd lose her nerve.

She could tell that her mother was reluctant to go home, but Aunt Cathy was insisting that they leave. Frankie narrowed her eyes at her great aunt, wondering if she was the reason that Eddie was seemingly avoiding her. Carl took advantage of his absence to appear at her side and help her on with her coat. She could feel the envelope still in her pocket, and found herself wishing that Aunt Cathy would just die or move to Antarctica or something, rid them all of her presence.

"Uh oh, Francesca…" Carl said from behind her. She resisted the strong urge to roll her eyes as she turned to face him. He had a stupid grin on his face, pointing his finger at the ceiling. Frankie felt her heart drop into her stomach as she looked up and saw what he was pointing to. "We appear to be caught under the mistletoe."

Frankie looked around desperately, trying to find a way out, but everyone was just looking on helplessly… except for Aunt Cathy, who was smiling contentedly.

"Um…" she stuttered. He was leaning towards her, and she felt her stomach lurch. "Oh god…" she muttered. He was getting awfully close to her, and Frankie was bracing herself, when suddenly the front door swung open, startling them apart. Eddie and Charlie walked in, soaked to the bone and covered in snow. Frankie saw Carl's face fall out of the corner of her eye, but she was too busy staring at Eddie to really notice it. The expression on his face was unreadable, but she knew something for sure – he had seen what was about to happen.

"There you boys are! We were starting to get worried!" Mrs. Bell said. Mrs. Bennett rushed up and switched into motherly mode, taking off her sons' coats and brushing the snow off of their hair. Frankie couldn't move – Eddie's eyes had been locked on hers since the moment he walked in the door. He looked away for a split second to swat his mother's hands away, and Frankie giggled.

"Merry Christmas," he said as he walked up to her.

"Merry Christmas," she replied. She lowered her voice. "Um, I have something for you." He didn't say another word, simply took her by the elbow and lead her back into the living room where she'd just spent the entire evening thinking about him.

"You didn't have to get me anything," he said as she put her hands into her pockets. Her palms had started sweating again.

"I wanted to. Anyway, it's not much, not right now anyway, but hopefully it'll turn into something new and… good. Really good." She was babbling. She pulled the envelope out of her pocket and handed it to him. He ripped it open, and pulled out the small business card sitting inside.

"Stuart Knight," he read the name. "Who's Stuart Knight and why is he my Christmas present? He better not be a gigolo, Frankie, you know I don't swing that way." He paused, apparently remembering what had happened the night before, then continued. "Well, apparently I do, but I need to be the one getting paid, not my competition." Frankie laughed before swatting him on the arm.

"Shut up, I'm trying to be serious here."

"Okay then… seriously, who is he?"

"He's a close friend of mine, and if you'll look at the card, you'll notice that he works at a bank."

He looked down at the card, then back up at her. "Yes, I see that."

"Right. Well, see, he owes me a favor, and I'm calling it in now… for you."

He furrowed his brow. "I don't understand."

"A small business loan," she stated simply. Realization dawned over Eddie's face. "I called him already, he wants to hear your ideas. He wants to help make your dream come true, Eddie."

Eddie was silent. Frankie giggled, trying to cover up how nervous she was. "Wow, never thought I'd see you speechless."

"Frankie, I…" Eddie's voice was hoarse. "This is unbelievable. I don't know how to thank you." He looked up at her, and this time she saw a look in his eyes that she'd never seen before. Slowly he broke into a smile. "I didn't even get you anything."

Frankie giggled. "That's okay. That's the whole point of a gift. Just something that I know will make you happy." She suddenly realized that they had inched closer together.

"Francesca! We're leaving!" Aunt Cathy's shrill voice interrupted their wonderful moment. Frankie rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Guess I'm being beckoned." She started to back away. "Merry Christmas again, Eddie."

"Wait," he said suddenly, grabbing her elbow and pulling her back towards him. He tugged her a little too hard, and she ended up a mere inches away from him. "You don't… I mean… with Carl, just now, you weren't…"

Frankie giggled. "Are you kidding me?" Eddie smiled slowly, and they both stood there for a moment before she turned around and followed her family out the door.

* * *

**AN:** Hey guys! Thanks for continuing to read and review, and I'm sorry that it took me a little longer to get this chapter out... it was a busy weekend. :) hehe. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this... only one chapter and an epilogue left! Thanks again everybody!

**2ndAN: **Hey guys! I was inspired by a review left by the wonderful Sobee1982, so I added an extra little bit. :)


	11. As Lovers Go

_I said, "I've got to be honest,  
I've been waiting for you all of my life."  
For so long I thought I was asylum bound,  
But just seeing you makes me think twice.  
And being with you here makes me sane.  
I fear I'll go crazy if you leave my side…_

_I'll be true, I'll be useful, I'll be cavalier,  
I'll be yours my dear  
And I'll belong to you  
If you just let me through…_

_-Dashboard Confessional, "As Lovers Go"_

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

What is it about a woman, crying and vulnerable, that brings out a man's need to protect her? It doesn't matter what the relationship is, who the man or woman is, how close they are… every single man I have known hates it when his significant other cries. It makes them feel powerless, because they couldn't stop whatever it was made her cry from happening, and now she's suffering and it might as well have been his fault.

It was no different with Frankie and Eddie. The moment came when she needed him, and he was there for her. And the most wonderful, magical, special part of the whole ordeal was that he needed her too. And now that he had finally admitted it to himself, he knew, and he let one simple truth dictate all his further actions.

He was in love with Francesca Darcy.

* * *

Frankie walked back into the house in a haze, analyzing and breaking down every aspect of the conversation she'd just had with Eddie, trying to figure out what was going through his head. A smile played on her lips when she realized that Eddie was able to read her so well, but she had the hardest time reading him. She followed her mother and grandparents into the house.

"Frankie, go let your puppy out, poor thing has been locked in the laundry room all day," Emily said. Frankie nodded and walked back to the laundry room.

"Lydia!" she called as she opened the door. Lydia hadn't run to the door as soon as she heard someone coming, which was odd. Frankie walked in a little further, looking in a corner of the room that Lydia liked to hide in, but she still didn't see her dog. "Lydia?" she called. Goosebumps came up on her arms, and she realized there was a significant draft in the room. She turned the corner and her mouth dropped open.

The back door, leading straight outside to the backyard, was wide open.

She ran out, forgetting that she didn't have any shoes on.

"LYDIA!" she yelled. She froze, her heart beating, straining to hear anything, but it was dead silent. She turned around and ran back into the house, calling frantically for her mom.

"Mom! Mom, Lydia's missing!" she said, running towards the front door to grab her shoes.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean that she's not in the laundry room and the back door was wide open."

Emily pressed a hand to her forehead. "Which means that Lydia ran off into the woods, of course."

Frankie grabbed her coat and started to run back outside, but had to duck around Aunt Cathy. "Who left the back door open? Who was the last one to leave to go to the Bells?"

"Oh, I suppose that was me," Cathy said. Frankie stopped in her tracks and stared at her great aunt, who was looking at her nonchalantly. Frankie was practically fuming. Lydia had been wandering around in the freezing cold for close to two hours, just because this old bat couldn't figure out how to close a door? She turned around and ran back outside before she said anything she might regret.

"LYDIA!" she yelled. "Lydia, here girl!" She started walking around the house, looking for dog tracks in the snow. She had just turned the corner when she saw someone walking towards her house.

"Frankie?" It was Eddie. Frankie waited for the butterflies, but she was too distracted by her missing dog. She couldn't see any hint of Lydia anywhere, and she was starting to get really scared. "Frankie, what's going on?" He was walking towards her, but she could only make out the outline of his form in the dark.

"My dog… Lydia. She's out here somewhere." Frankie could feel tears biting at the corners of her eyes, and she tried furiously to hold them back.

"Wait… what? What's the problem?" He was standing just a few feet away from her now.

"We came home and the back door was open, which means that Lydia got out and probably ran into the woods cuz she loves to chase squirrels but she doesn't know that squirrels hibernate and it's freezing and she's been out here for like two hours-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Eddie said, reaching out and touching Frankie's arms. She realized for the first time that she hadn't actually pulled her coat on, and it was still hanging from her hand. Eddie realized it too, reaching down and pulling it out of her hand. "It's okay, we'll find her," he said reassuringly as he wrapped her coat around her shoulders. Frankie pulled her arms through the holes. "She usually runs back here?" Eddie asked, gesturing to the woods behind them.

"Yeah," Frankie replied. She cleared her throat.

"C'mon, let's go look," he said, taking her hand and leading her into the trees.

* * *

An hour later they were still looking for Lydia. Frankie's mom had taken the car and was driving around the neighborhood looking for her, while Eddie, Frankie, and Grace were out on foot. Frankie pulled her coat tighter around her, feeling like it wasn't doing anything to protect her from the cold anymore. She sighed, frustration building up inside of her. Her voice was getting hoarse, and they still didn't see any sign of Lydia.

"Frankie?" a voice called. She recognized that it was Eddie's. The three of them looking on foot had split up earlier.

"Yeah, I'm over here," she called back. Eddie emerged from between a few trees a minute later.

"Hey… how are you holding up?"

Frankie just shook her head. "This is not how I wanted to be spending Christmas Eve," she replied. A tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away – but not quick enough. She knew that Eddie had seen it.

"Okay. Come on, time to go inside," Eddie said, pulling Frankie close to him. Frankie shook her head.

"No, I have to find Lydia."

"Don't worry about it, I'll keep looking. But you're freezing, and you're not wearing the right shoes to be stomping around in the woods… you need to go inside before you get frostbite or hurt yourself or something."

Frankie looked up at him, gathering from the determined look on his face that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Her shoulders slumped, and he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her inside. He called Grace in on the way, and when they entered, they saw that Emily had just arrived home as well, with no luck. Eddie helped Frankie take her coat off, and Frankie walked straight from Eddie's arms and into her mother's.

"C'mon, honey, let's get you warmed up," Emily said, rubbing Frankie's arms to warm her up. She turned to Eddie. "Eddie, do you want some hot chocolate or coffee or anything?"

"No, thank you, Mrs. Darcy, I'm actually going to go out there and keep looking."

"Oh Eddie, you don't need to do that. I'm sure Lydia will be fine until the morning. She might even wander home in the middle of the night."

"No, I want to," Eddie insisted. He shot Frankie a meaningful look before smiling back at Emily. "I'll let you know if I find anything," he said before turning around and heading back outside.

* * *

Another hour found Frankie alone in her room. She had gotten ready for bed, but knew that she couldn't sleep, so she was curled up under the covers, looking out the window at the snow gently falling. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to force out the images of Lydia whimpering outside in the snow. Instead she thought of Eddie earlier that night, thought of how he'd looked at her and how he'd smiled at her. It was one of the few times that she'd allowed herself to think about that, just because she knew she needed something to make her forget about how worried she was.

She had actually started to doze when a knock at the door woke her up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Come in," she called. The door swung open, and in walked Eddie, carrying a slightly damp and cold-looking dog in his arms. Frankie jumped out of her bed, and the dog was squirming in Eddie's arms, so he set her down.

"Lydia!" Frankie said happily. The dog jumped up on her and Frankie fell onto the floor giggling. "Where did you find her?"

"She was sleeping, underneath a pine tree where she was somewhat sheltered from the snow." Lydia jumped onto Frankie's chest, licking her face gleefully like only a dog can. Another tear slipped down Frankie's cheek as she buried her face in Lydia's fur. After a moment, Lydia had calmed down and settled herself into Frankie's lap, and Frankie looked up at Eddie.

"Thank you so much, Eddie," she said, her voice choked up. Eddie sank down onto the floor next to her, scratching Lydia behind her ears. "Did my family see her?" Eddie nodded, but didn't say anything. "Well… I'm sure they thank you too, we all love Lydia so much."

"No offense to your family, they're all great… and Lydia's a great dog too, and I'm glad she's okay… but that's not why I did this."

"What do you mean?"

Eddie looked down to where Frankie's fingers were buried in Lydia's fur, then slowly moved his hand over and wrapped his fingers around hers. Frankie looked up at him in surprise.

"I did it for you, Frankie." He paused, apparently waiting for Frankie to say something, but she couldn't. "Did you happen to notice that I was walking towards your house when you ran into me?"

"Yeah," Frankie breathed.

"Right, well… I was on my way over here to tell you something, and then I saw how upset you were, and I just wanted to make whatever it was that was hurting you stop," he said. Frankie's heart was pounding.

"What were you on your way to tell me?" she asked. His eyes were locked on hers, and Frankie found it hard to breathe, like a huge weight was pushing against her chest. He reached up with his free hand and touched her on the cheek. Lydia got up from Frankie's lap and sauntered away, as if she knew what was about to happen. In one swift movement Eddie moved up to his knees, pulling Frankie up and against him and bringing his mouth crashing down on hers. Frankie let out a moan as she wrapped her arms around Eddie's neck. She could feel his hands gripping her waist, crushing her body completely against his. When they pulled away from each other they were both gasping for breath. Frankie was seeing stars.

"I was so wrong about you," Eddie said between his gasps for breath. Their foreheads were leaning against each other. "About everything. I've been so blind and so stupid."

Frankie slowly smiled. "I'm glad you finally came to your senses."

Eddie backed up enough to laugh loudly, then leaned in and kissed her again.

"So you did talk to my aunt," she said after they moved apart the second time. Eddie raised an eyebrow.

"How did you know about that?"

"Jane overheard you guys talking. She called me and told me that you refused to promise her that you wouldn't date me."

Eddie made an exaggerated pensive face. "Did I say that? Hmm. I don't recall that conversation." Frankie giggled.

"Oh, maybe you didn't. Okay then. Maybe you should, y'know, let go of my waist and stop sticking your tongue down my throat then." She squirmed, pretending to loosen herself from his grip, but he just held on even tighter.

"Oh no. You're not getting away that easily." He reached up and touched her cheek, his expression turning serious again. "The truth is, I called you cold-hearted because you listed all the reasons that you shouldn't be with me-"

"I was cold-hearted," Frankie insisted. Eddie shook his head.

"No, you weren't, you were just being honest. And the thing is, I was thinking the same thing. You're nothing like the girl that I thought I should be with… but since the day I met you, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. You've been such a challenge for me, and I love that about you."

Frankie smiled. "Now there's something every girl dreams of being called… a challenge."

Eddie laughed and kissed her. "You're my favorite challenge," he said, snuggling into her neck. Frankie sighed and looked at the ceiling, in disbelief that all of this was actually happening. She was in such bliss that the next words that came out of her mouth came out with no real thought of the consequences.

"Eddie, will you stay here tonight?"

Eddie pulled back and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "Not that that thought doesn't interest me… but don't you think it's a little early?… and isn't your mom like, down the hall?"

Frankie smiled. "No, not like that, that's not what I meant… I just meant… this night feels so special right now, and I just don't want it to end."

Eddie smiled back. "Me neither," he replied. "But we are going to have a lot more nights like this in the future, I can promise you that." Lydia chose that moment to bark, as if irritated that the two humans in the room seemed to have ignored her presence. Frankie laughed and pulled away from Eddie enough so that she could reach over and pat Lydia affectionately.

"Lydia says that it will never be this special again, seeing as how we won't be losing and then finding the best dog ever every night."

"Ahh, yes, that's what everyone will remember from this night… we found poor Lydia," Eddie said, leaning over and scratching Lydia's ears. He looked over at Frankie for a moment before kissing her again. After he released her, the two stood up, and Eddie kicked off his shoes and pulled off his jacket before pulling Frankie down onto the bed with him. Lydia hopped up as well, laying down near their feet.

"I can't believe this is happening," Frankie murmured, snuggling close to his shoulder. Eddie reached up and touched her hair, the silky auburn strands slipping through his fingers.

"Me neither," he replied. He kissed her forehead. "But now that it has… I don't think I ever want to be without you again." Frankie's heart fluttered.

"Wow," she said. She suppressed a giggle. "Now you're just getting cheesy." She looked up at Eddie, who was shaking his head and staring at the ceiling.

"I swear to god, you're going to drive me insane…" he muttered. Frankie giggled out loud this time and kissed his jawbone.

"You love it. I'm your favorite challenge, remember?" she reminded him.

"Damn you have a smart mouth. I see I'm going to have to teach you a thing or two." His eyes got a mischievous glint before he reached over and tickled her. Frankie shrieked and squirmed to get away from him, but he just held tighter. "Wow, the great Ms. Darcy has a weakness? She's TICKLISH?" Eddie teased as he tickled her mercilessly. Frankie was laughing so hard she was silent, tears streaming down her face. He finally stopped, giving her a moment to calm down, grinning at her idiotically.

"You suck," she said, taking deep breaths. He leaned over and kissed her lightly.

"I know."

* * *

When Frankie woke up the next morning, it was to an experience that she'd never had before – waking up in the arms of a man. She had to admit, it was up there with the top experiences she'd had in her life. They were both on their sides facing each other, one of Eddie's arms tucked under her head, the other one around her waist and pressed protectively against her back. She almost gasped out loud when she realized that her hand was flat on his back, underneath his shirt. Her fingers twitched, and she gave in. She moved her hand around slowly on his back, trying not to wake him up. Her breathing quickened when she realized how muscular he was, letting her hand wander along the lines and crevasses of his back. He was so warm, she didn't want to move away from him, but she eventually forced herself to stop, and eased herself carefully out of his arms. He barely stirred in bed, and she knelt beside him, smiling when she saw how peaceful he looked. They had spent several hours talking before they fell asleep, and she recalled one particular part of the conversation when he told her just how much her gift had meant to him. She leaned back towards him, unable to resist, and pressed her cheek against his.

"I want to make your dreams come true, Eddie," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Because you've made mine come true… dreams that I didn't even know I had." She placed a feather light kiss on his temple before getting up out of the bed.

She crept downstairs, hearing voices in the living room. She knew that her family would be up when she'd caught a glimpse of the clock and seen that it was 8:30 in the morning. She walked in, and sure enough, there they were – her mom, grandparents and sister, not to mention the still ever-present Carl, still in their pajamas, drinking coffee and munching on the plate of donuts that was sitting on the coffee table. Except for Carl, who was fully dressed already in old-fashioned jeans and one of the ugliest sweaters she'd ever seen.

"Merry Christmas, honey," her mom said when she saw Frankie. Frankie smiled shyly, wrapping her arms around herself. Did they know?

"Merry Christmas," she replied. "Where's Aunt Cathy?"

"Right here," she heard from behind her, seeing Cathy enter. It was 8:30 in the morning and already Cathy's hair was pulled back into a tight bun, though she was wearing a thick robe. "Merry Christmas, Francesca. We've been waiting for you."

Frankie rolled her eyes. "Merry Christmas to you too, Aunt Cathy."

Emily cleared her throat, dipping her chunk of donut into her coffee. "Your aunt is right, Frankie, we have been waiting for you. Why don't you go wake up Eddie and we'll all open presents together?" Frankie's eyes widened. Her mother smiled at her mischievously. Aunt Cathy gaped.

"He is here? In this house? OVERNIGHT?" she hissed. "Why, I have never, ever been exposed to such impropriety-"

"Oh cut it out, you old windbag," Frankie interrupted. Aunt Cathy gaped even more, and Frankie could see Carl's jaw drop in her peripheral vision as well. "Eddie is here to stay, so either get used to it or get out." No one said anything for a moment, though a quick glance at her mom reassured Frankie that she wasn't angry at her – in fact, she looked kind of proud.

"Well aren't you just my knight in shining armor," a voice came from behind Frankie. She turned to see Eddie standing in the doorway, his hair mussed, his clothes wrinkled, and a big smile on his face. Frankie slowly smiled, unable to take her eyes off him.

"Good morning, Eddie! Merry Christmas! Would you like some coffee? I'm sure that your family will be over here soon," Frankie faintly heard her mother say.

"I would love some coffee, Mrs. Darcy, thank you," he replied, though he didn't take his eyes off Frankie. He stepped closer to her as Mrs. Darcy poured him a cup, and then handed it to him. He slipped an arm around Frankie's waist and looked out at her family, who were beaming proudly… except for Aunt Cathy, who looked slightly green, and Carl, who looked like he wanted to be swallowed up by his ugly sweater. "I'd like to make a toast," he said, holding up his mug. The rest of the family followed suit, and he smiled down at Frankie.

"To dreams coming true."

* * *

**A/N: **Wow, so sorry for the delay on this one! School caught up with me, midterms are a bitch! Anyway, in case anyone missed it, shortly after I posted the last chapter (like, a day) I added a scene thanks to some great feedback I got, so go ahead and check that out. :) I'm posting this chapter and the epilogue, and the story is officially done:) Thanks so so much to everyone has reviewed, I'm so glad all of you have enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! School is about to consume my life pretty much until the end of the semester, so I don't know if I'll do a whole lot of writing in the meantime... I do have a couple of stories I've started (completely unrelated to Jane Austen, lol) but I probably won't have a lot of time to work on those. In the meantime, please go over to fictionpress (same pen name) and read my other stuff! thanks again everybody!

estrellabella


	12. Epilogue: Ordinary People

_This ain't a movie, no  
No fairytale conclusion y'all  
It gets more confusing every day  
Sometimes it's Heaven sent  
Then we head back to Hell again  
We kiss, then we make up on the way..._

_-John Legend, "Ordinary People"_

**EPILOGUE**

And that was how my best friend, Francesca Marie Darcy, and my future brother-in-law, Edward William Bennett, fell in love.

I'm not going to lie and say their relationship was peachy from that day forward. It was a big adjustment for the both of them. Downtown Chicago had always been the arena of their hatred, and it was hard for them to leave the homey Christmas atmosphere and take their relationship into real life. I can't tell you how many phone calls I've gotten from Frankie, ranting about their latest fight, how he was the most stubborn person she has ever met (excluding herself, apparently), and how sometimes she just wanted to strangle him… but at the end of the day, they still wanted to be together more than they wanted to be apart.

And apparently, the makeup sex was, and I quote, "mind-blowing." Don't ask me how Frankie would even know that, considering Eddie is the only guy she's ever had sex with, but she refuses to listen to all reason, and keeps insisting that Eddie Bennett is the best lover on God's green earth.

Ew. Sorry, grossed myself out for a second there.

Aunt Cathy disowned her great niece after the little incident on Christmas morning, but I don't think Frankie was all that upset about it. Emily and Mrs. Bennett were ecstatic, as the two of them had gotten along famously through the holidays, bonding over the obvious attraction of their offspring. The two musketeers of Mrs. Darcy and Mrs. Bell soon became the Three Musketeers of Darcy, Bell and Bennett, and we all got the feeling that every holiday season from then on would be a mass gathering of all three families. Grace Darcy became very good friends with Maggie and Kelly Bennett, and finally broke out of her shell. She has now graduated college and is living happily with her boyfriend in New York. Carly Lucas and Zach Collins are still together this day, the cutest and shyest couple I've ever met. Every now and then Frankie shudders when Carly talks about the more "intimate" moments with Zach, but then we all laugh it off.

Charlie and I got married on July 28th, in a beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony. The wedding was perfect. Not only did our best man and maid-of-honor not kill each other on their walk up to the altar, they couldn't seem to stop making googly eyes at each other throughout the entire ceremony. Charlie and I have been married for over two years now, and are in the process of expanding our family.

Oh that's right, Frankie, I don't think I've told you this yet – I'm pregnant.

That's all there is to it, there's no more to the story. Well, there is more to the story, but it hasn't been written yet. I know it's not considered traditional manuscript methodology, but the dedication for this story is at the end.

To my best friend and my brother, on their wedding day.

May the story of your love live forever in your hearts.

Congratulations, and I love you both.


End file.
